Awakening Power
by Crystalite
Summary: Kagome manages to have a run in with a slave trader who ends up selling her to a certain hanyou...CH. 12 is Up!! R&R!!!
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. 

Author note: (Some stuff you may want to know before hand, in other words.)

Okay, this story is set in the past, in Inuyasha's time. Kagome is no longer from the future and lives in a village. She still has a younger brother. Oh, Inuyasha was never sealed and Kikyo isn't going to be in the story, unless I find some place where she fits ^_^ I think that is all the major changes…I'll explain other things in the actual story! 

Kagome clutched her younger brother's hand and looked at him in reassurance. He was watching the ceremony with tearful eyes. "It'll be all right." She whispered. 

"I am scared. What if one of us are chosen?" Souta asked, watching as the basket was carried up before the leader.

"There are many people." She said calmly. "So, they will probably miss us." He nodded, but still could only watch in terror. Her feelings echoed his own, but she was the older sister. She had to be the one to stand firm, otherwise her brother would completely fall apart. Their parents had died earlier from a terrible attack, so she was all he had, and he was all she had. She watched on with the same dread, wishing the village could be free of its tragedy and not have to resort to this…this…evil.

A few weeks ago, a strong Youkai attacked their prosperous farming settlement. They were not made up of warriors, so could offer little resistance. They would have probably have all died if their leader hadn't of managed to convince the monster to leave their village in peace. The monster agreed, though for a terrible price. Every week, the village was required to send out one person to be fed to the ferocious monster to appease its hunger. Every week, the villagers would gather in the town square, knowing that in a few moments, one name would be drawn out of the basket; each time fearing for their own lives as the leader stood up to read off the name. The worst was the waiting. Just standing, knowing that someone you know would be sent to some monster and be eaten alive. Never to be seen again. 

If people tried to leave, they were eaten as well, so there was no real escape. Kagome found this completely pointless. Sure they got to live for a little while longer, but sooner or later, the entire village would be consumed. This was just putting off the inevitable.

The entire crowd held its breath as their grizzled leader stood up. "This week is…sorry..." The old man sniffed a bit, looking like he was going to break down in tears himself. "It is…Souta." Kagome's heart felt like it had stopped. She felt her brothers grip tighten, then fall limp as he stood in shock.

"M-m-me?" He stuttered in terror. The crowd opened a path leading to the leader, everyone looking sad that a boy had been chosen, but at the same time relieved that it had not been them. He looked up at his sister with tears in his eyes. "I am going to die, aren't I?" He whispered, hardly believing this could be true. Kagome's eyes filled with tears as well. Her brother. Her only brother had been chosen. She bent down and hugged him tightly. She couldn't bear the thought of him dying.

"No, you are not." She reassured him, tears running freely down her face. "You stay with our neighbor's family, okay? And be good." She told him. He looked at her in confusion. 

"But…I…I was chosen…" He said. She stood up and looked into the leader's eyes. 

"I want to go in his place." She stated. Her brother stiffened in shock. "I want to be the sacrifice." The elder looked confused. This had never happened before. She walked forward. "I want to save my brother." She said pleadingly.

"No, Kagome!!" Her brother cried and ran to catch up with her. A person form the crowd caught his arm and held him back. "Don't leave me!" Kagome looked at him in sorrow.

"I can't stand the thought of you dying. Our family was killed by them. I don't want you to be too." She looked back to the leader, who nodded, agreeing to let her go. She walked forward in determination. 'At least it is me.' She passed by the leader and looked nervously at the forest beyond. There was where the creature lie in wait. She could still here her brother yelling for her and she stifled a sob threatening to overtake her. There was no question to it. She was going to die.

She passed though the beginning of the forest, shivering as the sounds of nature died down. The people had never seen the monster actually consume a human since the attack, but you could tell from the screams that it had been terrible. Suddenly, in front of her erupted a massive creature. It had a long, serpentine body covered with scales, and a face with a mouth that had far too many teeth then necessary. It looked at her, smacking it's lips in delight. Kagome stood in fright as approached her, baring its fangs for an attack. It leapt at her suddenly and she automatically screamed and fell flat to the ground. It passed over her, but its tail simply grabbed hold of her and hoisted her off the ground. 

She winced as the scales dug into her skin and then as the tail began to constrict. The monster was trying to suffocate her!! She kicked her legs frantically and squirmed to get free, by the creature was too powerful. Her vision began to blur and for a brief instant, she thought she saw someone standing below her. She blinked, realizing there WAS a person below her. It was a boy with shockingly white hair and red clothes. It's face was bent into a scowl, but what was the strangest thing of all was his dog like ears resting on top his head.

"Feh, you take too long to kill your prey." He mocked. "Look, she is still breathing."

"Hey…help…me…" She managed to gasp out.

"Me? Help a human?" He snorted, and leapt high into a tree as someone else walked out of the woods. Kagome by now was having trouble staying conscious, her feeble supply of oxygen running out. The monster then threw her into the air and she landed unceremoniously onto the ground, rolling into a near by bush.

"Hmm, I hope you didn't kill her." The newcomer remarked. "The price goes down when that happens." It was humanoid, but instead of skin it was covered in scales similar to the giant monster from before and had deep set, fiery eyes. He walked to the girl and checked her pulse. "Good, she is alive." He didn't sound relieve or even thrilled by the news.

Kagome squinted one eye and saw this strange creature peer down at her. Her entire body hurt from the fall and she could hardly move after almost being suffocated. She wasn't sure if this lizard-man saved her or not, but either way she was now alive. "Thank you." She sputtered.

The man laughed its voice low and dangerous. "I wouldn't be thanking me, miss. You are probably worse off now then with my Youkai." Kagome stiffened. What did he mean? He pulled her sharply up to her feet, seeming even more pleased she had not been knocked out. "I am Tereshi the slave trader."

'Slave trader?' She thought wildly. 'He can't be a slave trader!' But still, now knowing her savors intentions, she suddenly drew back her foot and kicked him and hard as she could. It caught his squarely in the stomach. "I am not going to be anybody's slave!!" She cried out and turned to run, surprised when the lizard like creature caught her arm.

"If you do that again, I will kill you." He hissed in her ear. She shivered and nodded submissively. She didn't want to die now. Maybe she could escape later...maybe. "Go back into the woods." He called to his creature as he dragged her down an almost invisible trail. Kagome blinked in surprise. That man…and that monster…were working together! They soon came upon a carriage-like cage. Several other people sat in it, looking angered and depressed. He opened its door and threw her in. She landed ungainly on her knees, wincing as they skinned themselves on its rough surface. The monster walked to the head of the carriage and jumped on, taking hold of the reins in one movement. The carriage began to move, wobbling on the uneven ground. 

"What's going on?" She asked one of the people sitting on the ground. He looked up at her with bleary eyes.

"We are heading to Iferious." The old man croaked. He looked worn out, stomach sunk in and lips dry and cracking. 

"Iferious?" She wondered out loud. 

"It is the Youkai capital. Most people believe those bastards run with no control and have no organized place, but they are wrong. Many Youkai live in there with actual households and have families. It is located high in the mountains, where humans can rarely find. We," He laughed bitterly. "Are slaves for Youkai like these." 

"I am not going to be a slave!" She cried, hands on her hips and a determined scowl covering her face.

He laughed again. "You say that now, but after a few days with no food and water, you will find that the prospect of slavery more tempting then death from starvation or dehydration." Kagome stared glumly out the cell bars. This can't be good.

After two days of travel, they reached a mountain. Kagome was parched and her stomach kept crying out for nourishment. The old man's statement proved to be correct about no food and water. She wasn't sure what the lizard man was trying to do, keeping his 'wares' in such a weak condition. 'I have to escape. I have to escape.' She thought over and over. The carriage stopped and the monster hopped down. 

"You stay there." He said mockingly. "I have some business to take care of." Kagome blinked. This could be her chance. She waited until he had gone then ran to the cage door. She looked at the lock glumly. 'Eeech…I need to get this off…' She thought for a moment and looked on the ground of the cage, which was littered with branches. Their evil driver let them out one by one everyday so they could…eh…do their business, and when they returned, twigs and such naturally collected on the floor. She picked up a durable branch and stuck it into the lock.

"I am going to get us out of here." She told her onlookers. She turned to the man she met the first day. He looked dead now, each breath seeming painful for him. Kagome returned to the lock and quickly began to work on it. After a few minutes of trying, she sighed, "It always works in the books I read." She tapped the lock lightly with her hand in frustration, stifling her shock as it came off. She swung open the door. "Come on!" She called. The few people in the cage ran out, everyone that is but the poor man in the corner. He had stood up, but he was so weak that even to step would require too much effort in his part. She ran to his side and pulled his arm around her shoulder, helping him to walk out.

"You idiot. That old geezer will slow you down." Came a loud voice from the tree. Kagome looked up, seeing the boy from earlier casually resting on a branch watching down with little amusement.

"You! Go away if you won't be helpful!" She yelled up at him.

"Heh heh, you are going to be caught." He mocked. "Idiot." 

"He's right." The old man said. " "Just run…can't you see I am dying…" Kagome shook her head.

"I won't leave you behind to that monster." They continued to walk, slowly getting out of sight of the carriage. She saw a stream running through the forest and quickly pulled the man too it. "Drink." She pleaded, watching him as he knelt down and begin to shovel the water into his mouth. She followed his example, feeling strange delight as the liquidy substance ran down her throat. That's when she heard the yell. "He must be back." She whispered. The other man seemed refreshed by his drink and looked at her. 

"Lets split up. I can make it on my own now and we'd have a better chance of surviving." She quickly nodded and they each ran in opposite directions along the river. She heard footsteps echo behind her and she paused once to look back. It was Tereshi, one hand reaching out to take a bow and an arrow. 'Is he going to shoot me down?' She thought worriedly and changed directions suddenly. An arrow passed within inches of her shoulder. 'I'll take that as a yes.' She cried as another arrow lodged itself deeply in her shoulder. She bit her lip to hide the pain and continued to run. Another arrow sprouted from her leg and she fell to the ground. The creature walked to her, a terrible scowl covering his face. He looked even more dangerous than before.

"Stupid human." It muttered as he got nearer. "It was you who let my merchandise go." He hissed. "I smelled your stench all over the lock." Kagome winced as he aimed a blow directly at her side. The combinations of all these pains were too much for her, and she felt her world go black.

She awoke in a strange place. The arrows had been removed from her skin, but the wounds still stung like fire itself. "Good, your awake. You can join the others now." The lizard like creature was standing over her. "You are lucky I didn't kill you. I would have if…" He stopped as a small creature bounded into the tent. 

"They are starting the auction!" It piped. 

"Good." He pulled her roughly to her feet. Her wounds stung anew and she gritted her teeth as she was drug forward. There was a long line of humans like her self, each appearing sullen and resentful. Youkai's were all around, watching the people with little interest, occasionally walking up and choosing a human, tossing money to the slave traders. Kagome felt fear take over her. She was going to be sold. It was as simple as that. She watched as more and more people were taken away. 

The lizard-man chained her to a pole and settled to the ground. Kagome watched as a Youkai with bright blue skin and hard, black eyes approached her. "Anch ye ah beaut." He spoke with a strange accent, forcing Kagome to listen hard to even catch anything he was saying. He looked up and down her in this strange, overly observant way, making Kagome shiver. "Bit on da scwanny 'ide, neh?"

"She is in perfect condition." The lizard man said indignantly. " Smart too, if you have any children that needs to be tutored, and strong enough to handle any other stuff." Kagome wasn't sure what he meant by 'other stuff', but had a feeling she didn't really want to know. 

"Dunt cey too mooch feh eh bren." He smirked. "I'll pey 50."

"Fifty!? Only fifty? That is an outrage! Anywhere else she would be sold for 200!" Her trader cried.

"Hey, I told you I won't be a slave." Kagome muttered. She didn't know what possessed her to speak up, but these too people bartering over her were making her really mad. She wasn't just a slab of meat. "I'd never want to be a slave for an ugly beast like you, anyway." She spat.

The potential buyer simply raised one hand and swung it across her face. She fell to the ground, clutching her cheek, a little surprised to feel blood running freely. She wanted to cry, but didn't want to give this monster that satisfaction. She resorted to just glaring up at him. "Too festy fer me test." He looked back at the lizard man, who didn't appear to care that Kagome had just been hit. 

"She just isn't broken." Tereshi reassured him. "A few weeks and she will be just fine. Lets say, 150?" He asked. 

"150? Ye afer me muny. 's not wert 150. 75 es me fenel affer." The creature insisted. Again, they were completely ignoring her. 'I do not want to end up with him.' Kagome frantically thought. 'There has to be a way…'

"It cost 100 alone to catch her." The lizard man cried. "I have to make an income to support my family. Let say 135?" The beast seemed to consider this new offer. Kagome suddenly thought of an idea. Whenever they were selling a cow or a horse, one of the first things they would check was its health. With a lot of over dramatizing, she suddenly began to cough and sway, as though sick.

"Eh? Wuz wr'ng wit er?" The monster asked, backing off a bit.

"I don't really know. When you slapped me, I suddenly remembered my own families deaths." She said, forcing herself to shed a tear. "We were on our way to a nearby village when they suddenly caught sick with a strange kind of fever. I sat by their side day by day, watching as their lives drifted away." She looked at her hands. "I was so careful…I wonder why I feel sick?"

"She lies! She is in perfect health!" The lizard-man declared. The buyer did not look convinced.

"I dun take no chince. Ged bye." He turned and walked off, heading for another trader who had more healthy wares. Kagome sighed in relief and watched him go. A sudden hand dug into her shoulder and she was whirled around to face the deadly eyes of her seller.

"Don't you ever do that again." He hissed, one claw resting on her neck. "If you do I'll kill you. Youkai find dead humans to be almost as useful as those that are alive." Kagome swallowed hard, finding it difficult to not believe the man's words. She sat down obediently and decided not to press her luck for awhile. It must have been spread around about her 'sickness' because no one else approached the seller about buying her. She felt a little relieved, but also wondered what the lizard like creature would do if she weren't sold. He didn't look too worried, and as the day grew late, he called a tiny Youkai to him, handing him a letter. The small creature looked at the address and held out his hand expectantly. The trader quickly gave him a silver piece and he went on his way.

"What was that about?" She asked him, earning a kick in the side. 

"Slaves don't question Youkai's business." He glared. "I feel sorry for the person who gets you." Kagome sighed and leaned against the pole, looking up and down the street. By now, most people…Youkai…had left to their homes in the town are in the forest. 

"Doesn't look like I am going to be sold." She remarked, and the lizard man again tried to kick her, but she managed to scoot out of the kicks way. 

"Slaves don't speak unless spoken too." He hissed. "Shows how little you know." He looked expectantly down the road. Kagome closed her eyes. She didn't care what was going on now. No one would buy her, so maybe the man would have to put her away for the night and then she'd have another chance to escape. Or maybe he's…she gulped. She hoped what he said about dead slaves being worth almost as much as live ones was simply a threat. She was so busy fearing for her own safety, she failed to notice a stranger walk up.

"I never agreed to buy a dead slave!" Came a loud voice. Kagome shot her eyes open and looked at the speaker. It was that boy again!

"What are you doing?! Following me?!" She cried.

  
"Why would I follow some worthless human?" He snapped. "Feh, you think too highly of yourself." He handed some money to the lizard man. 

"Okay then." Tereshi pulled his belongings together, and began to walk off. 

  
"Wait? What just happened here?" Kagome cried. The boy bent down and easily ripped the chains off of her. 

"You certainly are slow." He mocked. 

"Am I free?" Kagome asked, feeling new hope overcome her.

"Why would he set you free? Humans." He shook his head in disgust. "No." He smiled revealing fang like teeth. "You belong to me."

*******

Thank you for reading! This will end up being a Kagome and Inuyasha pairing, if you haven't guessed ^_^. This is my first Inuyasha fan fic, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Please Review!!!


	2. To be together...?

Disclaimer: I still don't own Inuyasha, its characters, nothing

Kagome stood in shock. It was one thing to thing about being a slave, but another thing to actually be one. "I won't be a slave." She insisted, getting up slowly to her feet, careful not to reveal the fact that she was hurt.

"Do you think I'd choose you?" He spat back. "Some stupid human girl who almost managed to get herself killed twice?" 

"Then why did you choose me?" She demanded. He looked away, crossing his arms.

"I do not have to answer that." 'How immature.' Kagome thought to herself. "Come on." He grabbed her arm and yanked her forward. Kagome came crashing to the ground as her weight settled on the leg that had been shot earlier. 

"Ow." She muttered, and winced as she tried to prop herself up with her bad shoulder.

"Humans are too weak." He spat. "Little wounds like that wouldn't bother me." 

"Well, I am not you!" She determinedly got to her feet again. She'd show this boy she was not any 'mere human.' She took a defiant step and instantly fell to the ground again.

"You are going to kill yourself if you keep trying that." He sighed. "Fine. Get on my back." 

"What?"

"Get on my back! I order you to get on my back!" He cried. He turned around and Kagome awkwardly stepped up to his back. He instantly jumped high into the air and began to run to where she guessed he lived. She clung on tightly, scared that she would fall off, which only cause him to yell at her some more. "Hey, you are choking me!"

"Sorry." She loosened her grip a little. "If you wouldn't go so fast…" She muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing." She watched with astonishment as they began to past more highly developed buildings. The youkai city was huge! This area seemed to be of a higher class, because the grounds were neat and everything looked well cared for. She saw several humans walking around, carrying laundry or sweeping off side walks. After a few minutes, they stopped at an exceptionally tall building that could only be described as a mansion. "Is this where you live?" She asked, awed despite herself.

"Yeah, at least that part of it to the right." He pointed. "It is actually my brother's house." He opened the door to the house and ran down the halls, ignoring the curious looks he got from several humans. There were no other Youkai in sight. "There is only me and my brother living here." He explained. 

"Having to explain yourself to your own human slave?" Came a calm yet biting voice from one of the hallways.

"NO!" He cried, standing up and dumping Kagome to the floor.

"Hey…" She muttered. "You could have warned me."

"I heard you finally decided to get yourself your own slave. Now you are carrying her around and telling her about the house. Your human side seems to be affecting you." The person steeped into the light. His hair was the same color as the boy and was carrying some strange fluffy thing over one of his shoulders. 'Weird.' She thought.

"Hey! I live by my Youkai blood! I don't have a 'human side.'" Her, well she guessed she could term him owner, cried out. 

"You are lucky I even let you stay here." The man said in the same voice. "There are plenty of Youkai who would just love to kick you out or kill you." 'He must be his brother.' She realized.

"Let them try." He cried, raising up one arm threateningly. Kagome found all this a little surprising. Was this boy only half demon? A hanyou? Now that was odd. She never even knew hanyou's existed. 

"Well, I will be seeing you later." The older man walked down the hall, heading toward the center of the house, pausing beside Kagome. "I just wonder why you got her? She seems like she'll be of no use." He continued on as though he had never said anything. 

"Come on." The boy turned and walked on. Kagome got to her feet and took a step, managing to limp after him. Her wound felt a little better after her brief period of rest, and didn't sting as much when she put her wait on it. "Hurry up!" He called.

"I am going as fast as I can!" She cried back. How annoying! He was lucky she didn't just fall over. He seemed against carrying her now, especially after that remark his brother made earlier. 

"Jeesh." He waited for her too catch up and carefully looked around, making sure his brother was out of range, the picked her up. "It'll take forever the way you walk." He ran down the corridor before pausing at a room. He opened the door, revealing a modestly attired area with a couch and a table. A door off to one corner was ajar, revealing a bed, where he probably slept. "You can stay on the couch." He said, dropping her on to it. 

"Hey, what is your name?" She asked suddenly.

"Inuyasha." He said and turned to walk off.

"Don't you want to know mine?" 

"I don't really care what your name is." He responded. Kagome crinkled her eyebrows. 'That was rude.' She thought.

"It is Kagome." She shouted as he closed the door to his own room. "KA-GO-ME!" She looked at the door that stood within a few feet from her. She hoisted herself off the couch and walked to it, wincing each time her weight settled on her leg. Her hand finally was able to brush the doorknob when…

"Do you think you can really escape like that?" Came Inuyasha's voice. "I could smell your revolting stench leave the couch. Even if you did get out of my room, guards patrol the halls and kill any humans who don't have and Youkai pass to leave." Kagome blinked. It seemed like escaping would be more difficult than she thought. She glumly returned to sit on the couch.

"What am I suppose to do then?" She asked.

Inuyasha scratched his head. "I don't know. My brother is the one with the slaves and his clean my room too. Just stay there I guess."

"My job is to sit on a couch…" She echoed, then shook her fist angrily at him. "You are such an IDIOT!! Why buy me if there is no reason for me to be here!! Just let me go and then you won't have to worry about what I am to do." 

"Hey, don't speak to me like that! I am you owner!" He cried.

"You know what I think!" She stood up suddenly and pointed at him. "You just want a slave to prove to your brother that you could have one!" Inuyasha glared at her.

"SHUT UP!!" He picked up a vase sitting beside him and chunked it at her, throwing it high enough where she wouldn't be hit, but low enough to cause her to duck. He walked back into his room and slammed the door.

"Humph." Kagome said and then got comfortable on the couch. "I knew it." In a few minutes, she fell asleep, tired by the day's events. 

"Wake up!" A voice barked in her ear. Kagome snapped her eyes open and sat up.

"Souta, you can go make breakfast today." She yawned.

"Souta?" She blinked and realized it was Inuyasha who had woken her up. She looked around her surroundings in surprise. Memories of the day before rushed back to her.

"I thought it was just a nightmare." She whispered. 

"Come on! You slept all day yesterday!!" He cried again, dragging her to her feet. 

"All day?"

"Yes, all day! Man, you humans are so lazy. Get a cut and sleep for a week." He snorted. Kagome wiped the sleep from her eyes.

"I need to take a bath." She insisted as soon as her thoughts began to work again. "And I need a new pair of clothes." After being carried around by a Youkai, trapped in a cage, and being bloodied up several times, she knew she must look like a fright.

"Slaves don't get requests." He sighed. "Fine. Use the bathroom in my room and I'll have someone bring in some clothes." Kagome stopped. He was actually being nice right now. After the vase being thrown at her, she expected him to yell at her some more. 

"Thank you." She walked toward his room.

"Feh, you are the one who smells. I can't have my only slave look like trash." Kagome turned to face him, hands on her hips. She was about to yell at him, but then realized he could change his mind at anytime, so instead just glared angrily before storming into his room. She was pleased to see that by entering another door from his room there was a huge bathtub. 

She wondered if she was going to have to heat up water herself, but then she saw it was one of those new kinds that had the water heated upstairs, water that was able to instantly come into the tub from connection pipes. 'Pretty sophisticated.' She had to admit. She turned the knob and allowed the water to pour into the tub. Once it had reached her desired amount, she slipped out of her clothes and into the water and began to scrubs the days of grime and blood off of her. She winced whenever she touched her arrow shots, but did her best to clean them as well.

Inuyasha watched as his new slave stormed off into his room, slamming the door shut behind him. He really never meant to buy her and was actually never planning on getting a human slave. Why should he? He could take care of himself and was rarely home anyway. His brother took pride in owning hundreds of slaves to do ever type of work imaginable. He had concubines, guards, cooks, dancers, room cleaners, desk dusterers, and eh… sweeper people??...the list could go on and on. 

In fact, many of the Youkai in this town boasted on having many human slaves. Sure, other races could be used as slaves, but humans, despite there many flaws and weaknesses, were the most productive and there were a lot of them. He had been mocked by some Youkai for not having even one slave, mockery added to the fact that he was only half demon. He was getting tired of being made fun of. "Not that I care or anything." He said out loud. So he had decided to leave town for a few days. 

He had come across a girl who was captured by the slave trader Tereshi. He hated that man himself, since he often lead some of the rumors against him. Inuyasha prevented him from killing the girl who managed to escape from his grasp. It was nice to see Tereshi go red with anger as Inuyasha promised to personally see to it that he would never see another day if he killed her. Not that he really cared whether or not the girl lived or died; he just enjoyed making that disgusting creature squirm. Unfortunately, he had been conned into promising to buy the girl if she did not sell by the end of the day.

Okay, slave girls were always in high demand, so he wasn't worried about having to actually buy her. But, luck was against him when the girl managed to spread to some idiot Youkai that she was gravely ill and that kept all potential buyers off. So, he had to buy her. Sure, he was planning on getting a slave, but what was he going to do with her? He didn't even have any slave quarters for her to live in and if he sent her off with his brother's slaves, Youkais would then talk about his inability to own a slave and blame it on his human side. That was one thing he did NOT want.

He stepped outside the door and grabbed a passing slave girl's arm. "Hey, go get some girl clothes for a person who would be about you size." He ordered. The slave looked at him worriedly and then nodded submissively, just like an ordinary slave would. 

He returned to his room. He had nothing planned today, other then he needed sometime to go down to the market and buy himself a new kimono, since he had this strange habit of ruining the one he wore almost on a daily bases. Wait…he had a slave now. She could go and buy him a new outfit. He was proud by his ability to FINALLY find use in his new possession. A timid knock came from the door. "Enter." He yelled. The slave from before came in carrying a stack of clothes. "Set them in the bathroom in my room." He ordered, waving his hand toward the door. She bowed and quickly complied with his wishes. A second later, she returned and again bowed to him.

"Will that be all?" Came a soft voice. 

"Why not? Go away." He watched as she left the door, managing to be completely silent in the entire process. Exactly how almost all of his brother's slaves behaved. Broken and obedient. He jumped up in surprise as his bedroom door was slammed opened and out stomped his own slave.

"Okay." She announced. "I am done." Her hair was still a little damp, but he had to admit that she looked ten times better then before she had left. Even her limp was a little less noticeable. And the clothes, though designed specifically for slaves, only complimented her figure. Not that he noticed or anything.

"Great for you." He said sarcastically. "Took you long enough. I thought you drowned."

"Shut up." She said calmly, and then walked over to him. She looked at the broken vase that still littered the floor. "You haven't cleaned it yet."

"WHAT! I am not going to pick it up! You are! That is your job!" He sputtered.

"You were the one that broke it! Why should I clean it up?" She yelled back. "Besides, my job is to sit on the couch, remember?" She sat on the sofa and looked defiantly at him.

"Clean up this mess!" He demanded. "I order you!"

"Fine." She began to pick up pieces of the broken vase and tossing them into the fireplace.

"That is not cleaning!"  
  
"Do you have a better idea what I should do with this then? Whoever deals with the fire will already be sweeping up the ashes, so it'll save time for her to just sweep up the glass too." Kagome reasoned, still throwing the glass in the fire. Try as he might, Inuyasha couldn't find the flaw in her logic. 

"Humph." As soon as she was done, she stood up and dusted off her hands. "Finally. Now, you can go to the market and buy me a new kinomo." 

"I thought you said I need to have a pass or something?" She asked. He handed her a strange necklace. She took it and slipped it on. She recalled the humans she saw also wore something similar to this. "What is it?"

"It is a charmed piece of rosemary. You can't take it off unless someone with Youkai blood removes it and if you try to leave, you will be zapped to the ground." He laughed a bit. 

"Okay, then." She turned and began to walk out the door. "Eh.." She looked back at him. "Where is the market?"

"You don't even know where the market is!!?" Inuyasha asked incredulously.

"Hey, I never been in this city before! How am I suppose to know where places are!?" She cried out.

"You just follow the street and you'll hit it. It is not that hard." He crossed his arms and looked away.

"Got it." She started to leave again. "Eh…" She looked back. "How do I leave the house?"

"Just follow the corridor. If you get lost, ask someone." He answered through clenched teeth.

"Right." She paused by the door. "Eh…" She began again.

"What is it!!?" He yelled. It would be easier if he just went and got it himself.

"Do I need money for it?" She asked.

"…Humph…" He looked away from her as he tossed her some coins, a bit flustered for forgetting to give her the money. "Here."

"Okay. I am off." She marched out the door, slamming it behind her. Inuyasha sighed and got up, waiting until he was sure she was out of the house before leaving to follow. 

"She is going to get herself in trouble." He stated. 

********

The Road Between Two Souls? I have never read it, but sorry if it sounds similar ^_^ Smirk, now I am going to read it and make sure they go in different direction, k'? Okay, so how was it? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!!!


	3. Apology to Katra Winner

I was not sure where else to put this so…I guess here is fine.

Formal

A personal apology to Katra Winner. I really did not get the idea to write this from reading your story, since I didn't even read it until after people kept posting how they were similar and I have to agree that your story is very well written and very interesting. I am still hoping for the best with mine--I don't think it is up to your quality. As for the 'smirk' it was not meant to be against you. It was just to show that I would read your story and make sure mine continued differently. Again, I apologize if it did sound rude; it was unattended.

Not so Formal:

Eeech! I hate people being mad at me!! I seriously cried after reading your review!! I did not mean to cause any waves when posting this--it was just an idea I had. I probably should have read others to see if they had the same idea; but it did not even cross my mind to. If I got my idea from anywhere, it was from reading AU Dragon Ball Z fics where the Saiyans ruled and humans were slaves (wow, I read to many of those…) Still I apologize and I give full credit, if you want, to you. I don't think you sounded ranty--I would be mad too if I thought someone had copied my idea. I hope that you read this; otherwise I guess then you wouldn't know that I am truly sorry.

For those checking to see if I had updated…eh sorry. I will have the next chapter up soon.


	4. Just a day in the streets

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any other anime for that matter.

Kagome was actually happy to be doing something. She knew she didn't have the whole slave thing down, but that hardly bothered her. She could roam the city now, though the strange necklace would restrict her from actually leaving. 'Too bad.' She thought to herself. She finally made it out of the mansion and turned on the street, following Inuyasha's directions the best she was able. It was a nice day and many Youkai roamed the grounds, several of them being followed by humans or other creatures who were carrying the stuff the youkai must have bought, or simply waving fan in their faces. 

Kagome thought that was stupid. If anything, it was too cold, not too hot. But hey, if those youkai got their kicks from brightly colored fan in their faces, they could go right ahead. She saw one of the fan carrier stumble and fall to the ground. The Youkai didn't even hesitate; he simply lifted one of his fingers and the boy was gone. Ashes littered the ground where he had stood, settling for a moment before the youkai walked by them, causing them to lift in a strange, dark cloud. Kagome felt physically sick at this gross display of murder. That was not right. She had a powerful urge to run over and slap that creature, but knew she would end up the same as that boy. 

The other humans and youkai hardly blinked at the matter, not seeming too disturbed. She wondered if it was an everyday thing; otherwise their lack of emotion was just inhumane. Either way, she should probably hurry with her job and get back to the safety of Inuyasha's room. These people were really giving her the creeps; the other slaves included.

Kagome soon reached a market filled with a variety of people. It was so packed that she had to push her way to a stall that sold kimonos like the one Inuyasha was wearing. In her haste, she ran into one especially short youkai, who then kicked her already tender leg.

"Watch where you're going, human!" It hissed. Kagome opened her mouth to shout back, but managed to control her anger. 'No use in getting angry.' She chided to herself. She had run into him, so all she would have to do was to watch where she was going from now on. Kagome finally reached to stall and approached an especially ugly youkai.

"Sir, I need a to buy a--" She was shoved out of the way by another youkai. "Hey, I was here first!" She cried. Both the creature and sales clerk ignored her as they began to talk over business. "Did you hear me!?" She reached out and to grab him by the shoulder, but another human seized her arm and led her away. "What are you doing?" She demanded, ripping her arm from the stranger's grasp.

"You are new in town, aren't you?" He said calmly. "Youkai are always served first. We are always last. You were about to get yourself killed." Kagome gulped. She hadn't really thought about what could have happened. "So, what is a beautiful woman doing in a place like this?" He asked her as they walked down the streets. 

"My!" She said, instantly pleased by his words. "I am here to by a kimono for Inuyasha."

"No." He said. She looked at him in confusion. "You need to always remember to say 'Master Inuyasha.'"

"Oh." She blinked. "Well, then for Master Inuyasha." She said. "You?"

"I have to buy some flowers for Mistress Janegi." He looked around. "But, she won't be expecting me back for some time."

"Hmm, neither will Inuya--eh…master Inuyasha; at least I don't think he will be. He probably doesn't care, so long as I get the kimono. So, what is your name?" She asked as they continued to walk, both unconsciously choosing paths that led AWAY from any youkai.

"It is Miroku. And, if I dare to ask, what might your lovely name be?"

"It's Kagome." She answered back. They approached a florist shop. "I can help you choose some flowers, since you did sort of saved my life back there." She offered. He instantly grabbed her hands and looked deep into the pools of her eyes.

"You want to help me?" He asked solemnly. "You are too kind." He stepped towards her, a tad too close for comfort. "May I ask a favor of you?"

"Uh…I guess…" Kagome was wondering where this conversation was leading to.

"Ever since I have been here, I have longed for one thing. A child. A child to carry on my name if my mistress should ever choose to kill me." He said emotionally. "Kagome, will you bear that child?" He encircled his arm around her and let it slide down her back. Kagome cried out in shock and instantly jumped away from him.

"Excuse me!!??" She yelped.

"Just one. That is all I need." He repeated, somehow managing to make it sound like a reasonable request. Another girl, who had been watching the conversation, approached the two and hit him on head with the back of her hand. "Sango! I have been looking all over for you!" He cried, though one hand was feeling the bump already forming on the top of his head.

"Pervert. You were suppose to meet me fifteen minutes ago, not hit on other girls." The newcomer hissed under her breath. She kept looking around, as though worried someone might overhear her. Kagome wasn't sure what was going on, but used this distraction to slip away from the lecherous man. 

"I had better be more careful." She decided, and then ran straight into another youkai. He turned to face her, a vicious glare in his eyes. 'So much for careful.' She thought grimly to herself. "Sorry."

"Why are our streets filled with filth like this?" He asked his companion, who also turned to glare at her.

"Filth!" Kagome couldn't help but exclaim. She immediately wished she had kept her mouth shut.

"A bit uppity for a slave. Should we teach her a lesson?" The first asked his friend, who nodded in agreement, his wild eyes focusing on her. 

"Hey, I am not your slave!" She snapped at him. She was already in trouble, so she figured that there was little she could do to prevent it. Might as well get in everything she could. "So, you can't hurt me." Kagome wasn't sure if that was true, but assumed she was wrong when they both laughed at her.

"Does it matter?" He approached her and slammed one fist hard across her face. "There are already too many of you. One less will hardly make a difference." Kagome had fallen during the first blow, and looked up to see the creature's giant foot about to crush down on her. She raised her hand to block the coming attack, not excepting to actual succeed, but before she could do anything a strange person intercepted between them. 

"Hey, this is my slave. Don't mess with her." She glanced up and found herself looking at a familiar red outfit.

"Inuyasha…" She breathed, hardly believing that he was saving her life. 

"Oh, so he managed to get a slave, did he?" The youkai laughed with his companion. "You should be one yourself, half-blood." He sneered. 

"I wouldn't say that if I were you!" Inuyasha growled and cracking his knuckles dangerously.

The monster simply laughed. "Do you dare threaten me, hanyou? You know I can't hurt you, you being protected by your brother and all. He is a YOUKAI I wouldn't want to mess with." He shoved pass Inuyasha, making sure it was clear that the only reason he stopped the fight was because of the youkai in the family. "Oh, if I ever see you again, you will die." He looked at Kagome and laughed as she shivered. She had this distinct feeling that he was not lying.

Kagome slowly got back to her feet, feeling her face already bruising from the blow. "Thank you." She told Inuyasha.

"Feh, those creeps annoy me. It's not like I stopped them just to save you." Kagome glared at him, but then paused as she saw some weird stares the other youkai and humans were giving her. She swallowed her pride and bowed submissively to him, like she'd seen other humans do.

"I thank you, master Inuyasha, for choosing to save my worthless life." She could almost laugh at the shocked look Inuyasha gave her.

"Eh…whatever." He yanked her forward. "You didn't get the kimono, did you?"

"No, master Inuyasha. I am afraid I have yet to comply with your wishes." Kagome said, still keeping with the overly polite attitude. She felt that she kind of owned this to him. He had just saved her life and this way the people and the youkai would think that he had complete control over her. 

Inuyasha looked a bit flustered by this sudden change in her behavior. "Uh…I knew it. Go get it then." He ordered, pointing to a stall. She bowed again and rushed to the store, quickly buying his desired item. Luckily, no youkai butted in front of her, so she was able to return without any obstacles. She handed them to him and was about to speak, when the slave trader's words echoed in her mind. 'A slave doesn't speak unless spoken too.' She firmly shut her mouth. If she was going to play the submissive slave, she was going to play it perfectly.

He snatched it out of her hands. "Lets go!" He walked forward, Kagome following behind. As soon as they got out of the crowded market to the quieter streets, Kagome asked a question that had been bugging her for awhile now. 

"How did you know I needed help?" She asked. 

"I knew a stupid human like you would manage to get into trouble." He snorted. 

"Hey, I might have not! And I am not stupid!" She said defensively.

"Heh heh, you would have been killed if I weren't there." He laughed at her. "You are too much trouble than you are worth."

"Then why did you buy me?" She yelled again. He continually circled back to that same comment. If she was so worthless, why didn't he either let those guys kill her or let her go? That would solve his problem. 

"It is not like I wanted to or anything." He muttered under his breath.

"Then WHY DID YOU!?" She cried. He was so annoying, always dodging that question. He said he didn't want to buy her, yet he did. Where was the logic in that? 

"Feh, I don't have to answer that." Same excuse as before. Kagome rolled her eyes.

"Were you suckered into buying me or something? Lost a bet and forced to buy such a useless slave like me?" She mocked. She knew she was being a little harsh, but his inability to answer was really ticking her off. What was he hiding?

"Shut up." He ran ahead, forcing her to run as well to catch up. 

"IT was something like that, huh!? I knew it." She crossed her arms. Inuyasha turned to face her, a scowl on his lips.

"Look, if I hadn't of, that guy would have killed you in the woods. Is that what you want?" He yelled. "Not that I was doing it to save your life or anything, but your slave trader happened to be one guy that I couldn't stand. He got me to agree to buy you if no one bought you by the end of the day." Kagome was a little shocked. Inuyasha had saved her life again, before she had even really known him…and here she was being mean about it. 

"Sorry." She said softly. "I didn't know that you bought me to save me."

"I didn't buy you to save you! I bought you 'cause I hated that damn jerk!" He yelled back. Kagome frowned a bit.

"Then why did you save me today? That would have been an easy way to get rid of me." She demanded.

"I hated them as well!" He cried. Kagome glared at him. Whenever she thought that there was a chance of him being nice, he had to say something like that. "And why is this an argument? You are not supposed to argue with me! I am your owner! So, SHUT UP!" He stomped down the street.

Kagome crossed her arms and walked behind him, purposely going as slow as she could. He was almost out of sight before he turned around to face her, hands on his hips. "Hey, hurry up!!' He yelled, sounding very impatient. Kagome ignored him, still maintaining her slow pace. She could practically feel his anger rising. "I said HURRY UP!" He cried. Kagome felt victorious in extracting her private revenge.

"Why should I?" She called up to him. "I'll catch up sooner or later." Inuyasha growled in response and ran back to her. She had to admire his endless energy, always running ahead of her, and then back down to her, then ahead of her again. 

"You have to because I said so!" He cried, and grabbed her arm and pulled her forward, walking at an incredibly fast pace. Kagome stumbled to keep up with him.

"Slow down, you idiot! I can't walk that fast!" 

"Bah, you walk to slow." 

"You walk too fast!" Kagome retorted. He slowed a bit, but still kept an unnecessary fast pace. "You are so childish." She stated.

"You are the one who started it." He shot back. "I say speed up and your suppose to speed up, moron. Slaves follow orders."

"Well, I am a terrible slave then." She muttered. "I won't follow just any order."

"Moron." He repeated. "I heard that."

"You know, I do have a name." Kagome snapped. "And it is not moron."

"Idiot."

"It's not that either. It is Kagome." She raised her voice.

"I really do NOT care what your name is. A slave is a slave. They don't have names." He mocked, his mouth pulling back to an odd, half grin.

"Really now?" Kagome said sarcastically. "I have a name, so I guess I am not a slave." She smirked as Inuyasha turned to glare at her.

"You are nothing more than a human." He said, making that seem like an insult.

"I sure am." She was not the least bit miffed by his words. They had reached his home by now and he purposely strode up to it, followed by Kagome. They soon arrived back to his room, where she chose to ask yet another question she had been wondering about. "Why do I sleep on the couch? Don't I go with the other slaves, or in your case, a slave's quarters?"

"I don't have any." He paused at the door, seeming to be waiting for something.

"The knobs right there." She pointed to it.

"You open it." He said, his voice resuming a mocking tone. "You are the slave after all." 

"You are the lazy one after all." She mimicked under her breath, but opened the door anyway. He walked in and she absently grabbed the necklace from around her neck and threw it at him with all her strength, surprised by the slight tingle emanating from the strange jewelry. Inuyasha caught it, but his eyes were wide with shock. "What's wrong now? Surprised I can throw too?"

"You were not suppose to be able to take this off!" He cried, looking at it in disgust. "Must be broken." Kagome remembered him mentioning that fact to her earlier. Just her luck. The perfect chance to escape had just passed her by, and she never even knew it. She sighed and watched as Inuyasha left the room to the long hallway, still carrying the necklace. 

"Where are you going?" She asked, annoyed that he had made her open the door only to walk in and then turn around and leave.

"None of your business. Just do whatever until I get back." He slammed the door shut behind him.

"Whatever?" She looked around the room. Everything was in order. The fireplace had been swept by someone (heh heh), the room was clean and even the table had been polished. She felt a little bad for the people that had to come in here and do this. At least she was lucky that her owner didn't make her do anything overly tiring; at least opening doors, sitting on couches, and visiting markets didn't seem strenuous to her. There were no distractions.

This was the first time she got to completely think about the situation she had managed to get in. During the few days she had been here she had been kept busy by arguing with Inuyasha, caring for her wounds, or looking around her strange surroundings. She sighed and leaned against the wall, sliding down it in exasperation. She wondered how her brother was getting along. He must be sad, believing her to be dead. 'But I am not.' She told herself. 'I will find a way out of here. I will try to escape tonight.' 

Inuyasha slammed down the necklace on the counter of a smith who specialized in rosary charms. "Your wares are crap." He stated.

"Excuse me?" The man asked, or rather hissed. This Youkai was actually a serpentine creature with far too many legs than normally and a mouth full of dagger teeth that made speaking a difficult task. "This is in fine condition."

"Well, my slave just kindly tore it off and chunked it at me." Inuyasha glared. "It's broken." One tentacle like arm wrapped around it as he took it in for a better look. 

"The charm was cracked." He said after a moment. 

"Well, then fix it." 

"How odd…Charms just don't crack." Came a calm voice behind him. He whirled around and found a youkai by the name of Yura looking at the rosary and him in interest--or rather the rosary and his hair. It creeped him out the way she was always looking at his hair. "I heard that you now have a slave all of your own. I was wondering if you were going to ever show some of your youkai heritage." She said in the same soft tone, yet somehow managing to get across the insult.

"Feh, I only show my youkai side." He declared.

"Yet you are still a hanyou. I know of a way to change that." She said, looking at the items around the shop. She picked up a necklace made of minuscule skulls, sighing when she noticed that all of them had been polished to the smooth bone underneath. Inuyasha's ears perked up at her words, yet he still maintained his uncaring look.

"What do you mean?" He asked when it was clear she wasn't going to continue on her own. She walked up to him.

"Your hair is so nice." She murmured. "Such a unique color." She reached out, as though to touch it. Inuyasha's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

"What do you mean?" He demanded again.

She sighed and took back her hand, a look of disappointment momentarily flashing across her face. "If you come to my house for dinner tonight, I'll tell you." She walked out of the stall. "Oh, bring your knew slave too. I am wondering what kind of slave it is, if it was bought by you." She left the shop and then jumped into the air and vanished, probably taken up by her strings of hair. Inuyasha glared. He wasn't sure if he should trust that youkai…but, if there was a way…he had to know. He had to.

Yura smiled, and fingered one strand of Inuyasha's hair she had managed to capture during their brief dialogue. What luck she had to see him in the shop and learn about his new slave. 'Someone to put the blame on.' She thought to herself. Now all she had to do was to set her plan in action. It seemed like a lot of work for one head of hair, but she had her eye on it for awhile now. Either Sesshoumaru or Inuyasha's hair would do, since they both had that rich, silvery white color she always longed to add to her collection. She was not stupid enough to go after the full-blooded youkai. More questions would be asked and she herself could end up in trouble. But that simple hanyou was the perfect candidate. "And I really did have a way to help him." She laughed to herself. "But why would I? All I want is his hair." She ran along her perfectly placed strings. "Poor Inuyasha…" Her laughter echoed around, like the beams of light pouring on the youkai village.

Two people walked around a strange shop selling unusual charms. They were not allowed to go in the building, since it was only reserved for the youkai. It probably held magic that the youkai didn't want the humans to get hold of. One of the humans kept sliding closer to the other until she would say something that temporarily warded him off. The conversation they had overheard had finally been a rewarding one. After several days of constant watch and listening, they had managed to discover what they had been wanting. "Do you think she is talking about…" The girl trailed off.

"What else could change a hanyou to a full youkai." The other calmly answered back. 

"Lets go." She stood up and he followed her example. "If we don't return, Janegi will be suspicious."

"Mistress Janegi." He corrected, earning a sour look from her. "Besides, I bet she thinks that we are late for other reasons…" He trailed off, but his implied words did not go missed. She knocked him upside the head, shaking slightly in anger.

"Pervert." 

********

A big thanks to all the people who read this! I hope you enjoyed it--there is actually a little bit of plot occuring ^_^ I hope I got the Yura character alright--she isn't going to be a major role, but she is going to help me move the story along. Oh, and I wish the best for Katra! I accept her apology, and I hope she accepts mine:) Anyways, reviewing stories is always good, so I'd appreciate any feedback! Like? Don't like? Review!!


	5. Dinner Date

Disclaimer: I still do not own Inuyasha or any other anime for that matter.

"Why do I have to go with you?" Kagome asked as she and Inuyasha were walking along the street. A few hours earlier, he had coming storming into the room, saying that they were going to some youkai's house tonight. She tried to find a way to stay, but it proved to be futile. It's not that she really minded to go; in fact getting out of that room again was nice and it would be interesting to see how another youkai lived, but if Inuyasha was gone and he had left the rosary, then she could try to escape. 

"Because I said so." Inuyasha replied. It was the same answer he gave to her question every time she had asked it, but then again, she kept asking the same question. Kagome sighed. This was getting nowhere.

"Then why are you going?" 

"None of you business." He mocked. "You are the slave and just follow my orders."

"How do you know that I will be a 'proper' slave around the youkai." She laughed as he paused, that thought never really crossing his mind.

"All you have to do is stand quietly in a corner and serve me my food when it is brought out. Nothing else. Do not speak or anything." Inuyasha commanded. 

"I will not stand quietly in a corner, I won't serve you your food, and I'll speak as often as I want to." Kagome responded instantly.

"Feh, you will do as your told, 'cause this youkai will kill you in an instant if you don't. She doesn't like slaves that think too high of themselves." He laughed as she paled a little, but stopped as they approached a strange, circular home. It was old and crumbling, not like Inuyasha's finely built home. At the same time, it had an air of power around it, like magic itself kept it together. In fact, whether by magic or not, Kagome saw thin strings wrapped around the entire house. It looked like if anyone were to remove those strings, the house would instantly fall apart. Kagome unconsciously fell behind Inuyasha, still gazing at the strange piece of architecture.

Inuyasha approached the door, but before he could knock, the door opened. "Mistress Yura awaits you in the dining hall." Came a hollow voice. Kagome couldn't see through the shadowed door to where the voice was coming from, but Inuyasha, seemed to be able to tell where he was, since he walked inside and followed their guide along many twisting corridors, until Kagome was completely lost. She could barely see anything that was farther than a foot away from her, so she kept a firm eye on Inuyasha back, glad that he wore red. Suddenly, they entered a room that was brightly lit, bright enough that Kagome had to shield her eyes before they got use to the blinding light. 

She looked around and blinked in surprise. In many places around her, there was hair. The stings were so fine that they almost blended in with the background, but still highly noticeable. They were only located near the walls, the room itself clear, like an intricate spider's web. 'Creepy.' She thought to herself. Inuyasha didn't even appear to be affected, so Kagome assumed that this was how it was suppose to be. In fact, he strode farther in the room, directly towards some of the fine strings, but before he could run into them, they pulled out of his way.

"I knew you'd come." Said a voice high above them. Kagome looked up and saw a scantly clad woman balanced on the wires. Hairs came out from her hand and they seemed to be what was controlling the rest, since every time a finger moved, strings all around her shifted positions. The strange youkai leapt down, landing lightly on the floor. The first thing she did was approach Kagome and study her. "An interesting choice." She said after a moment. Kagome resisted her urge to slap the woman's hand away when she reached up and grabbed a portion of her hair. "Unfortunately, low quality hair." She murmured.

"My hair is fine, thank you very much." Kagome snapped and pulled away. She could see Inuyasha glare at her when she made her comment. Kagome ignored him. She wasn't going to let some youkai insult her. "I happen to take very good care of it."

"My, aren't you the outspoken one." The youkai stepped back. Kagome was a little surprised when she did nothing. All the other youkai, well all but Inuyasha, had hit her whenever she made any remarks like that. The strange youkai turned to Inuyasha. "She looks pretty useless though…is she your concubine?"

"WHAT!!!" Both Kagome and Inuyasha cried in unison. "She IS NOT my concubine!!!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Oh, well. Have a seat Inuyasha." She gestured to the table behind her. Inuyasha walked forward, but then stopped and turned to Kagome.

"Stay over there." He pointed to a corner of the room. Kagome walked stiffly over to where he pointed, still angry about the comment the youkai made. She leaned against the wall and tried to concentrate on what the two were saying.

"What were you talking about yesterday?" He demanded, sitting on one of the cushions that were placed on the floor.

"You certainly get to the point, don't you?" She sat across from him. "How about we eat first?"

"Keh, I'd rather find out the secret." Inuyasha glared.

"Hmm… of course you'd be interested." She said thoughtfully. "Have you ever heard of the Shikon no Tama?"

"Eh?" Inuyasha shook his head, a blank look covering his face.

"It's some kind of stone that will grant the person who has it their 'wish', I guess I could say." She tapped hand lightly on the table and a young, human girl walked in. She carried some type of old-fashioned box that was, as Kagome observed, wrapped around with the same kind of hair. Kagome couldn't see though the box, but picked up some kind of pink glow emanating from it. The glow was so alluring…Kagome felt this strange urge to go over there and take what was in the box. It was like it was calling her…"The Shikon no Tama was split up a long time ago, into four parts. One of the quarters was recently shattered when a massive group of youkai attacked a pitiful human settlement, where one portion of stone lied." She took the box from the girl and the girl bowed low before leaving the room. Kagome winced when she saw that the girl was riddled with scars. 'What could have done that?' She thought to herself. The girl happened to look over her while leaving, and what Kagome saw tore her heart. Her eyes seemed to be filled with grief and despair, as though she was trapped in something with no way out…

"Humph… nice story, but what does it have to do with me?" Inuyasha growled. Kagome's eyes snapped back to the conversation, breaking the momentary bond between her and that girl.

"It even has the power to change an odd ball hanyou like yourself into a full blooded youkai…or human, if you wish." She finished, her hands moving slightly. Inuyasha failed to notice this—instead thinking carefully over the words she had said.

"Whats in the box?" He asked after a moment. Yura opened it and held out a gleaming pink shard.

"A Shikon shard, of course." Kagome tried her best to pay attention to the strange conversation, but her attention was caught by the increased movement of the hair all around her. One strand came especially close to her so she lifted one finger and delicately touched it. She pulled her hand back in shock as the fine wire cut through her skin and drew blood. 'These are dangerous.' She realized. She had thought that they were some form of decoration, but…were they actual weapons? She looked back over to Inuyasha and saw the majority of the hairs heading to him, going around him in a slow, constricting circle. 'Inuyasha…why doesn't he notice?" 

"Why are you telling me all this?" Inuyasha demanded. "Are you going to give me the shard or something?"

"Why would I do that?" Yura asked, laughing a bit. Her expression turned back into a strange smile. "Maybe I'll give it too you, but not for free." The hairs continued to close in around Inuyasha.

"Bah, I could just take the stupid shard from you right now." He reached out, but Yura jumped into the air, supported by the hairs coming around her. "Fine, then. What do you want?" He crossed his arms in annoyance. The hairs were almost within touching distance of Inuyasha. Kagome took a step forward. What was Inuyasha thinking? He should get out of the way. 

"Its not much…I just want to play with your hair." Yura said. 

"Let your filthy hand touch my hair? That's it?" Inuyasha asked incredulously. It seemed almost too easy.

"No, that's not all. Well, I'll give you my shard after that. I don't know where the other pieces are, or where the other fourths of it are." She smiled. Inuyasha looked at her suspiciously. "Of course, I will be wanting to keep your hair…" She said, almost as though it was an after thought.

"What!" He yelled. "You are going to cut off my hair?!" The strings were now thick around him. Kagome couldn't stand it anymore. She broke into a run, heading for Inuyasha.

"No…I will be cutting off your head!" With the last words, the strings tighten its grip around Inuyasha…who wasn't there. "What?" She looked down, seeing him lying flat on the floor looking incredulously at his slave who was on top of him. "Oh bother."

"What do you think you are doing!!" He yelled at her. "You come out of nowhere and tackle me—"

"You IDIOT! Are you trying to get yourself killed!" Kagome interrupted. She jumped off of him and glared at Yura. "And you! I don't know what your problem is, but it isn't polite to kill your guests!" Inuyasha sat up, still looking at her as though she had snapped. "What is wrong with you—eeeeech!" She cried and ducked under as a hair flew past her. It continued on, heading straight for Inuyasha. "DUCK, moron!" She yelled. Inuyasha just glared at her. It caught him in the middle of his chest and threw him across the room.

"What the—!" He yelled as he slammed against the wall.

"Oh dear, I guess you can see the hair, can't you?" Yura asked Kagome.

"Of course I can!" Did the woman think she was blind?

"I am afraid you annoy me. You can die now." The hairs surged toward her and caught her around both wrists, pulling her high in the air. Yura held up her hand and a sword flew to it. "I don't like slaves who get into youkai business!" She jumped up even with Kagome. "I guess I could collect your hair too…" She pulled back her weapon and Kagome shut her eyes, fearing for the worst. She heard a small scream and peaked one eye open, only to see Inuyasha holding the demon woman by her throat. He wasn't balanced on anything, and his weight caused Yura to fall to the ground, his powerful hands still wrapped around her neck.

"Bitch." He hissed. "Trying to kill me, huh?" He leapt backwards and flexed his claws dangerously. Yura quickly took in several deep breathes. "You will die! Sankon Tetsusou!!" He leapt back at her, his claw attack catching her by surprise. Her arm was torn off, and Kagome fell to the ground at the strings loosened.

"Inuyasha.." She said softly. Yura did not appear disturbed…in fact she broke out into laughter. 

"This ought to be fun.." Kagome gasped as the arm reattach itself to Yura and the sword flew back into her hand. She swung the sword at him, but he avoided each attack with surprising ease. "I have to admit I underestimated you." Strings attached to his wrists and his arms, effectively pinning him "Now you will die." She cried, and rushed at him, sword out. 

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, but a faint whisper tore her eyes away form the soon be attack. It was the girl from before, holding out a red skull. 

"Please, kill her." She asked pleadingly. Kagome took the skull, noticing how it pulsed with power underneath her hands. Evil, deadly power. Kagome did the only thing she could think of. She threw it as hard as she could to the ground, and proceeded to stomp on it. 

"What?" Yura stopped in mid run, choking slightly as power rushed from her. "You…" She hissed, looking at Kagome. Kagome glared up at her and then brought her foot down again with all her might, watching with satisfaction as it smashed in half. Yura's eyes glazed over. "NOOO!!" She yelled as her body began to turn to dust. "How could you--a mere human--?" She then vanished, nothing more than a pile of ashes on the ground.

"Heh, heh, she is dead." Inuayasha snorted, pulling free from the hair that had been wrapped around his wrist and ankles. "You could see the hairs?" He asked Kagome.

"Of course. Couldn't you?" He shook his head. "Oh, wait…" She looked over at the girl who had gave her the way to destroy Yura. "Thank you…but why didn't you destroy her yourself?" 

The girl spoke softly, so softly that Kagome strained to catch her word's "I couldn't. I tried, but I couldn't." She turned and left the room, stopping once to look at Kagome. "Thank you." Kagome smiled, then looked back at Inuyasha.

"AND next time, when I say duck, you had better duck!" She yelled.

"Feh, like I'll listen to you." He said. 

"Oohhh." Kagome glared at him, but then stopped when the house shuddered. "The house…it was held together by her hairs--" She suddenly remembered. "It's going to fall!'

"Damn." Inuyasha swore, and picked up the box that still held the shard. "Come on, Kagome." He called over his shoulder as he ran out the room. Kagome sprinted after him, but stopped as a beam fell in front of her, followed by a cloud of dust. She coughed and covered her nose and mouth with one hand.

"Inuyasha!" She called, picking her way as the house moaned and several more objects fell around her. She screamed as a large piece ceiling fell, and covered her head protectively. "Eh?" She asked after a moment, when nothing happened.

"Man, you are more trouble then you are worth." Came an all too familiar voice. 

"Inuyasha!" She cried. He had easily caught the falling material and tossed it aside. 

"Get on my back." He commanded, bending down a bit. She quickly did as he asked and he ran lightly down the halls, avoiding the falling objects with ease. 

"Wait, Inuyasha! What about the other people in here?" Kagome called.

"Those slaves? Hah, they know this place better then we do. They'll make it just fine." He yelled. Kagome sighed in relief.

"That's good…but what will happen to them?" She asked as Inuyasha jumped over the falling doorway into the fresh outside air. "Their mistress died…"

"They will be caught and sold again." He replied. "No better off then before."

Kagome thought of the girl's eyes and the scars riddling her. "No, I think they will be better off. She was willing to try to kill her own owner. Yura must have been a cruel youkai." She said after a moment.

"Heh, Kagome, there are worst." He snorted. 

"Well, that only means that there have to be better ones too." She said positively.

"Feh."

She suddenly remembered something. "Oh…did you say my name a second ago?" 'He said it earlier too.' She realized.

"Who cares? I have one slave. Other youkai would think I am stupid if I didn't know your name." He said defensively.

"Whatever, Inuyasha." Kagome sighed. 

"Moron." He grumbled. 

Sango walked by the Yura's house, looking at it in shock. There was no house…just ruins. "What happened?" She wondered. She had finally managed to get an assignment from Janegi that involved leaving the house, and decided to take the long way to the market, past Yura's strange home. She was hoping she could catch a glimpse what was happening inside. A small hope, but if Yura really did have it…

"Hey!" She called to a young girl who was sifting through the rubble. The girl looked up, a little frightened until she realized she was human. It was actually a very pretty girl, but had small scars all along her arm and parts of her face. Still, Sango was glad that it was her that was here, and not Miroku, who would probably be proceeding to ask the 'question.' "What happened here?"

The girl hesitated, then walked over to her. "Mistress Yura is dead." She said. "The house was kept together by her magic, so it fell as well."

"Really!" Sango asked. Though it was not too rare for a youkai to die in the city of Iferious, normally it only happened to the lower ones, not one of the higher class ones like Yura. "Who killed her?" Luckily for her, slaves often shared secrets with one another, bonding together since they were all under a similar problem.

"It was another slave girl." She whispered, looking around to be sure that no one else heard her. There was no one in the streets, so there was little to fear. Youkai didn't have much sympathy for one another, so it wasn't really surprising that no one had come over to check if Yura was dead or alive. Sooner or later, a patrol would come to…eh…round up the slaves and resell them. "She killed the bastard that killed my family." She hissed under her breath.

"How could she kill a youkai?" Sango asked. It wasn't that she doubted that someone did; in fact, she had killed many youkai herself, but in this city, killing youkai was harder since you lived directly under their control and they held no qualms about killing a slave who held themselves too high.

"I don't know. She could see the hairs that Mistr-- eh Yura was going to use to kill Inuyasha and then was able to break the red skull, which is the source of Yura's power." She said after a moment.

"Inuyasha…" That was the youkai she was looking for. Last night, she and Miroku had over heard a conversation… "So the slave was Inuyasha's? Did you happen to see some kind of pink shard?" Sango quickly asked. The girl seemed a little surprised.

"Yes, actually. Yura had it, but when she died, Inuyasha took it." So Inuyasha had the shard now…She quickly thanked the girl, who went back to the ruins and sat on a step. She felt a little sorry for the poor girl. If she left, she would be hunted and either killed or captured, but if she stayed, then she would be instantly sold. Either way was bad, but by staying at her owner's house, at least she wouldn't be killed. But still, knowing that freedom was within her grasp…

Sango shook her head from the depressing thoughts and continued on her way. She had to tell Miroku of her findings, then they could decide what to do next.

'Hey, where are you going?" Kagome asked as Inuyasha dropped her off at his room and removed the rosary from her.

"Its none of your business." He responded immediately, and the shut the door behind him, taking both the strange shard and the rosary with him. 

"Ask the same question and expect the same answer." She sighed and carefully counted to ten before cracking open the door. The halls were clear; except for a monstrous human male who was patrolling the halls. Kagome shut the door quickly. Even though that man was probably a slave, he didn't look like the kind of human she wanted to hang around with. Especially while he carried that overlarge sword over one shoulder. She settled glumly on the couch to wait for Inuyasha's return.

In less than a half hour later, Inuyasha stormed back in the room, looking completely put out. "Of course no one knows anything about that stupid Shikon no Tama." He complained, then threw something toward Kagome. She caught it and looked at it suspiciously.

"What is it?" 

"It's food, moron. You haven't eaten, right? Really, slaves are so helpless." He laughed.

"Oh, so you are serving me now?" Kagome said, taking a bite from the strange food. It was surprisingly filling, though a bit tasteless. 'Slave food.' She thought to herself.

"What! I am not! I just happened to go by the kitchens and remembered that I have a worthless slave now who can't even take care of herself!" He yelled.

"Well, if you told me where the kitchens were, then I could go get me my own food." She snapped back. "But thanks anyways."

"Bah, whatever." He snorted. "I am going to bed." He stomped into his room. Kagome looked to a clock in surprise. She hadn't even realized how late it was. 

'I promised I'd try to escape tonight.' She reminded herself. 'I have to be ready.' Inuyasha had taken the rosary into his room, so if she wanted even a glimmer of chance to leave the mansion, much less the city of Iferious, she had better get it back. She settled down on the couch, waiting until she was sure Inuyasha would be asleep. She then snuck to Inuyasha's door and place her ear gently against. There were no sounds.

'Okay, here goes nothing.' She opened the door slowly, careful not to make a sound. Kagome stepped into the room, and looked around, glad that Inuyasha didn't seem to care about having many extra items. His room was almost bare, except for the bed, where he slept, and a small night stand that held both the box with the shard, and the rosary. She approached it cautiously, keeping one eye on Inuyasha. He slept strangely, propped up on one side and on top of his covers. 

She reached over and picked the rosary up, then opened the box and withdrew the shard. She wasn't sure why it was so important, but the light drew her to it, and even now, power radiated from the shard into her hand and through out her body. It seemed to almost be connecting to her somehow. She shook her head and pocketed the shard and placed the rosary around her neck. 'This is almost too easy.' She realized. She started to head out, when something caught her eye. It was something pettily insignificant, but still it fascinated Kagome. Inuyasha's ears.

They were unlike most youkai ears she had seen. At least the humanoid ones. They were perched cutely atop his head and seemed to proclaim the fact that he was a mismatch of the two species. They reminded her of the ears of a dog she once had when she was very little…

She didn't know why, but she was overcome with an urge to touch them, just to reassure herself they were real. 'If I am really careful, it won't hurt too.' She decided. It was risky, but this would be her only chance to ever try. She doubt he would willingly let her touch them later, while he was awake, and if she did manage to escape, then she would never seem him again anyways. For some reason, she felt a little sad at that thought, but she quickly shoved that feeling aside. 'What am I thinking?' She then proceeded with her strange plan and knelt down beside Inuyasha and carefully brought one hand over towards his head…

Inuyasha sensed instantly when Kagome left her couch and approached his room. That was one of the many gifts his father gave him; a good nose and a strong sense of hearing. He could smell Kagome enter his room. "What is she doing?" He wondered. He could have easily made it known he was fully awake, but his curiosity got the best of him. He remained perfectly silent. 'Feh, that idiot is trying to escape!" He realized as he heard the sounds of something on the night stand beside him be taken away. He was about to yell at her, when he heard her stop, and then lean down near him. Her scent kept getting closer and closer…a strangely nice smell…

He panicked. He wasn't sure what she was doing, but shot open his eyes and grabbed the wrist that was hovering near him. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?" He cried, surprised when his voice came out a little stutterish. 'Eerrr,' he silently growled. 'What is wrong with me?' Kagome screamed in surprise and instantly used her free hand to slap him across his face. "Hey!! What was that for?" He yelled, feeling the imprint of her hand across her face.

"Sorry, sorry." She said after a moment. "You scared me."

"WHA--I scared you? You are the one who snuck into my room and in the middle of the night and you are the one who is scared?" He asked incredulously.

"Well, you shouldn't surprise people like that!" She cried.

"I can do whatever I want!" He exclaimed. He reached around her neck and took the rosary hanging from it. "And if you are trying to escape, you should have just grabbed this and run--why didn't you leave?" He asked suddenly. "I mean, I would have just tracked you down and dragged you back anyway, so you just saved me the trouble."

"I don't have to tell you." She said, looking embarrassed. 'What would she be embarrassed about?' He wondered.

"I order you to tell me." He said firmly.

"Its nothing important." She said quickly.

"TELL ME NOW!" He yelled.

"You don't have to YELL!!" She cried. "I was just wanting to touch your ears, if you want to know so much."

"My ears?" 

"Uh, yah. Is there anything wrong with that?" She asked defensively.

"Keh, you are such an idiot! You shouldn't let distractions block you from your mission!" He cried. 'She likes my ears?' He wondered to himself. 

"Are you wanting me to escape?" She asked sullenly.

"Of course not!" 'Wait, did that come out right?' He asked himself, then decided to phrase it a bit differently. "If I let an idiot human like you roam the streets, the other youkai are going to think I can't handle one slave." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you wanting to escape?" He asked suddenly.

"Of course I want to…" She said softly.

"Think it's so terrible here, huh?" He mocked. She just glared.

"I have a little brother to think of! He is all alone now and thinks that I am dead!" She cried.

"A brother? What's the use in family!?" He laughed.

"You have a family, don't you? A brother at least." She said. "Family is important." 

"Heh, my brother would just as soon kill me. The only reason he lets me stay here is 'cause my father wished it before he died." He laughed.

"That is terrible…does everyone want to kill you?" She asked, seeming to be thinking back to the other youkai she had met.

"Why not? I wouldn't mind killing some of them myself." 

"What about your father…he didn't want to kill you." She said.

"He died before I met him." He replied.

"Sorry." She said quickly.

"I don't care. I never met the old guy. Besides, it is partly his fault I am the way I am." He remarked.

"A hanyou…your mother was human, right? Didn't she care for you?" Inuyasha shrugged, and tried to hide the faint sadness that threatened to show itself. 'Never give in to those weak emotions.' He told himself.

"Bah, she died when I was really young. I was raised here." 

"Well, family is important." Kagome insisted. "Whether they are dead or alive." 'She is really stuck on that.' He thought to himself. He hated this subject. It was pulling into memories he would rather not be reminded of.

"Just go away." He muttered. She didn't move. "I told you to leave." His voice raised a bit, coming out a little harsher than he had intended.

"Um…you still have my wrist." She said quietly.

"…oh…" He quickly let go of it, a little embarrassed. "Okay, now go." She stood up and walked out of the room. "Eh, Kagome." She turned around. "Thanks for helping me with that bitch, Yura."

"Oh yah…" She looked thoughtful. "I did save your life in a way, didn't I?"

"No, you didn't!" He yelled. "I would have lived either way. It takes more than a stupid piece of hair to kill me."

"You just don't want to admit it!" She accused. "I actually can be of some use!"

"Heh, you can see invisible hair and break skulls! What's the point in that later on!?" He demanded.

"You are such a jerk!" She cried, then turned around and slammed the door. 

"Well, you are worthless!" He called. He heard the sounds of something being chunked at the door.

"I am the worthless girl who saved your life!" She cried, her voice muffled.

"Like I would be saved by some stupid human!" He yelled back.

"You are so immature!" 

"Humph!"

"Whatever. Goodnight Inuyasha." She called and he heard the sounds of her getting back settled on the couch. 

"Feh." He muttered, then settled himself down to sleep as well. He looked up at the ceiling blankly, and after a few minutes of doing so, he realized he couldn't sleep. His thoughts kept turning back to the Shikon shard and the fact that it could make him a full youkai. "I have to get all the pieces." He decided out loud. 'But how?' He had no clue where to start looking. No one in Iferious seemed to know, or at least were not talking. "I can go look for it myself." He decided. 

*********

Thanks for the reviews! I would have had this posted sooner, but I was gone all weekend and then homework (my fault: otherwise called procrastination)…Oh well ^_^ I hope you enjoyed it! 

Please review!


	6. Beginnings of a Journey

Disclaimer: …Can you guess what I am going to put here? I do not own ANY anime, much less Inuyasha *sigh*. Maybe one day…

After Kagome's brief run in with Inuyasha in her attempt to escape, she had settled down on the couch with all pretenses for going to sleep. She was a little disappointed her plan did not quite work out the way it had, but it had been nice to talk to Inuyasha for a little bit where he did not yell at her. Of course, it had been cut short, but it was a start. She sighed then reached in her pocket, taking out the shard she had place there earlier. It shone brightly in her hand and again it seemed to be beckoning her. 'Creepy. I wonder what Inuyasha is going to say when he finds this missing?' Kagome wondered to herself. She began to question why she had even taken it in the first place…but it just seemed right that she should be carrying it. 'I am not technically stealing.' She reassured herself. 'I am just holding onto it for now.'

She turned over on her side and looked into the dying embers of the fire. For some odd reason, her thoughts kept drifting between two subjects. The first was her brother Souta. She really did miss him--he was all the real family she had now. 'Will I ever see him again?' She wondered to herself, fighting back a few tears. Then, she began to think of Inuyasha. 'I should not be thinking of him.' She scolded herself. 'He is such a jerk and…' She thought back to everything he had said. 'He has had a really hard life.' She realized. 'Its no wonder he is so testy.' She sighed and shut her eyes, letting sleep over take her.

"Hey, Kagome!" A voice cried loudly in her ear. "You sleep in too late."

"You wake up too early." She yawned and sat up. Inuyasha was sitting comfortably on the floor the box where the Shikon shard use to be by his side. 'I bet he hasn't even checked if it is still there.' She laughed quietly to herself. 'So unobservant.'

"Well, I am leaving today." He informed her. "I will get all these stupid shards and become a full youkai."

"You don't even know where to start." She accused. "It's not going to be as simple as you say it is." 

"Heh, I will find them." He snorted. 

"Well?" Kagome looked at him expectantly.

"Well what?"

"What about me?" She asked.

"You? Feh, a stupid human like you would only slow me down." He laughed. "But since I am stuck with such a worthless girl I guess you will have to come too."

"I am not worthless!" She growled through clenched teeth. His name-calling was really getting annoying. The least he could do would be to come up with new insults instead of using the same one's over and over again. "Once you take me out of this city, can't I just run away?" She asked after a second. What good is the rosary out there if it was suppose to keep things IN the city? 

"You can try, but unlike other Youkai, I have a good nose and just track you down again and drag you back. Best not to try, you'd probably only get lost and eaten anyway." Kagome grimaced. 'Damn Inuyasha's nose.' She cursed. She didn't' really mind though. Maybe going with Inuyasha would prove to be interesting…'Wait, what am I thinking?'

"When do we leave?"

"Now." He informed her, standing up. "Earlier if you hadn't been so lazy."

"You could have waken me." She told him.

"I DID!" He glared.

  
"I meant earlier."

"Well, so what if I didn't?" He tossed the rosary to her. "Wear that thing till we get out of town." He commanded. "That way no idiotic youkai will kill you by mistake." Kagome caught the rosary with one hand and placed it around her neck. 'So he does care whether I live or die.' He then turned towards the door opened it, startling a human male whom had been carrying a tray of plates. The plates toppled down on the floor with a loud crash, glass flying everywhere.

"Sorry, sorry," He sputtered, immediately falling to the ground, looking like he was ready for some kind of punishment.

"Why do you have to apologize? It is Inuyasha's fault." Kagome bent down beside him and began to put some of the broken dishes onto the tray.

"Heh, Kagome, he should have been watching where he was going." Inuyasha scorned.

"How was he suppose to know that you were going to rudely slam open the door?" Kagome glared at him. The man did not really know what to say--in fact he was just gawking at Kagome as though she was insane.

"Isn't that your master?" He whispered to her frantically. "You shouldn't say things like that…you could get in trouble." Kagome resisted a smile. This seemed like a sweet guy.

"Don't worry about it." She frowned at Inuyasha who was now pointedly ignoring her. "Hey, you could help you know."

"Bah, that's slave work." He said and leaned against the wall. 

"Fine then." She continued to help the poor slave with the glass shards. "Will you get in trouble for these breaking?" She asked worriedly. The boy looked downcast.

"Yes." He said after a moment.

"Inuyasha, you have to do something." She commanded. "He is going to be punished for your stupid mistake."

"I didn't do anything." Inuyasha replied. "Besides, he is just a slave. I am sure he has gotten in trouble before."

"He is NOT just a slave!" She declared. She looked over at the poor boy that was looking at her with genuine shock. 'I wonder if he has ever stood up for himself?' She thought quietly. "Look, tell who ever that you report to that it was Inuyasha's slave that broke the dishes." She said after a moment.

"Huh?" He looked up at her in confusion. "But you didn't do anything…"

"I am leaving today anyway, so it isn't like I am going to get in trouble. Since Inuyasha is such a JERK, you can just put the blame on me. I don't mind." She said easily. 'He is almost too nice…no backbone.' She thought to herself. 

"I can't do that!" He protested. "You seem like such a nice girl. I don't want to get you in trouble." 

"Oh, you are kind." She said after a moment. "But I will be gone a long time. Just blame it on me. Promise? I'd feel better if you do." Kagome thought she saw Inuyasha glare a bit at the boy, but she assumed it was just her imagination.

The slave looked distressed by her request. Finally, he gave in and nodded. "Thank you." He picked up the tray and continued down the hallway. "Oh, what is your name?" He asked her suddenly. "Mine is Hojo."

"It's Kagome." She said. 

"Kagome…I hope I will see you again." He said honestly, then disappeared down the corridor.

"How sappy can one guy be." Inuyasha muttered, still looking a little darkly at where he last saw the boy. 

"Well, he is nicer than some people." Kagome announced. Actually, his docile attitude had gotten a little on her nerves. He was kind but…"What is wrong with you?" She asked Inuyasha, who seemed to be in some internal conflict. He kept looking at where the boy had been, then would side glance at Kagome as though checking she was still there.

"NOTHING!" He shouted, suddenly very defensive. Kagome blinked. He seemed to be very upset over something. "Lets go, Kagome." He walked down the hall, leaving Kagome to run in order to catch up.

"Jeesh." She muttered to herself. They left the mansion and went the opposite way then Kagome had gone earlier. It brought them to a heavily guarded wall with only one gate. Kagome strode forward, but was stopped by a youkai guard. 

"What do you think your doing?" It sneered at her and knocked her down with the tip of the strange weapon it carried. Inuyasha stepped beside her and glared at the youkai.

"Heh, she is mine and we are leaving." He said. Kagome picked herself up and nodded.

"Fine then." The guard motioned for a bulky man to lift the gate. "Leave." He gestured out the city. "Hanyou." He drawled it out like it was a curse. "We don't want your kind anyway."

"What did you say?" Inuyasha growled. The guard backed nervously away as Inuyasha cracked his knuckles dangerously.

"Nothing." He said finally. 'Coward.' Kagome thought. 

Inuyasha smirked and walked through the gate. "Kagome, you may want to…remove…the…rosary…" He trailed off as Kagome walked through the gate after him, still wearing the necklace. "Damn youkai!" He swore. "He told me it was fixed." Kagome looked down at the necklace in surprise and then pulled it off and handed it to Inuyasha.

"Obviously not." She told him, a little disappointed. Again, another chance wasted. Not that it mattered anymore, since Inuyasha already informed her escape would be useless. She sighed. "Well, where are we heading?" 

"North." He announced. 

"North?" Kagome asked. "Any reason why?" Inuyasha didn't answer, so she assumed he was just randomly choosing a direction. 'Wait…I came here from the south, so north will get me back to my village!' She realized. 'What luck…or did Inuyasha remember that from before…' Inuyasha looked at the rocky ground of the mountainous region and frowned.

"We'd never get anywhere if you walk." He glowered. "I guess I have to carry you."

"I didn't realize we were in a hurry." She remarked. "Impatient, aren't you? And you don't even know where you are going. You can be such an idiot." She enlightened him.

"I am not an idiot!" He yelled. "I know exactly where I am going."

"Really? You know where the Shikon shards are?" She said sarcastically. 'You don't even know where the one you got is.' She thought to herself, finding humor in her own private joke.

"It doesn't matter." He declared. "Just get on my back." Kagome complied with his request and he began to run along the narrow mountain trail. 

'We are covering ground a lot faster than that slave trader did.' She realized. 'Maybe we will get near to my village and then…maybe I can get away…or at least tell Souta I am all right…'

"They left." Sango whispered to Miroku. She continued to walk down the street, trying to appear natural. 

"Probably to try and get other shards." Miroku remarked. Sango casually turned into a youkai's private garden, motioning for Miroku to follow. If they were caught here, they would be killed, since by private, youkai's meant private. Miroku followed and once she stopped he place one hand on her butt. 

She slapped him across the face. "Hentai, perverted LECHER!" She screeched. "What do you think you are doing!?"

"You are the one who lead me here." He said. "And don't be too loud or the youkai will hear you." Sango simmered in her fury, but refrained from saying anything.

She instead began to dig through a nearby bush and pulled out her boomerang, Miroku's staff, and a small leather bag. "You know perfectly well why we came here. Since we found the shard, we don't have to stay in this slave place any longer." She placed the boomerang behind her back and comfortably tied the bag to her waist. Miroku took the staff and began to chant over the necklaces they wore. The rosary shook for a second and then fell apart, the beads scattering in the nearby vegetation. 

"Lets go." He said mildly and ran through the small garden to the youkai's private pond by the edge of the wall. "Ready?" He took Sango's hand, this time not for any reason other then to make sure they stayed together. Sango nodded and they both jumped in and dove toward the wall, searching for the narrow hole in the wall's foundation. From the surface, it was invisible, making it the perfect escape. Sango swam first through the small hole, followed by Miroku. They appeared on the other side, cold and wet. 

"Damn shards." Sango shivered. "Why couldn't they all be in one place?" She sighed and got out, wringing out parts of her clothing. 

"Then what would be the point in collecting them?" Miroku smiled and climbed out of the pond as well.

Sango's eyes flashed. "I will get them all." She swore. "I will destroy the Shikon no Tama." Her expression turned into one that was a mixture of both anger and grief. Miroku looked thoughtful and allowed his eyes to wander down. "Eh…" She followed his gaze and realized that her wet clothes clung a little too closely to her skin. She took her boomerang and hit him solidly over the head with it. "Pervert!" She hissed and stomped off, wishing she had brought extra clothes with her. 

"There is only one way the youkai's leave the mountain, so we should probably start at the end of that trail. Then we can figure out with direction they went and follow them until we catch up." Miroku said calmly, walking behind her, staying out of reach of Sango's fist and boomerang.

"Good idea." She agreed, her anger forgotten. "Lets go." They hurried along, not wanting to risk being seen by a youkai guard.

Inuyasha ran down the mountain, and then through the trees as he reached the mountains base, enjoying the freedom of being gone from that Iferious city. He wasn't sure why he ever came back; everyone in the town treated him with little respect, if any at all. It seemed that the only time he did get youkai's to listen to him was by threatening them, like he did with the guard earlier. 'Heh, I just have to stay tough.' He told himself. Somehow, that reminded him of his momentary weakness earlier, when Kagome and that slave boy were talking. 'Why did I get so angry? It was just some stupid human.' He thought to himself. 'Some stupid human slave that obviously liked Kagome…and she _was_ being nice to him…'

"Inuyasha!" Cried a voice in his ear. "You have been running a long time! Do you need to rest?!"

"Stop shouting! I am right next to you!" He yelled back. "Are you saying I am weak or something? I am doing just fine!" 

"Sorry for asking." Kagome said quieter, but her tone carried some resentment. Inuyasha just continued to run, but he had to admit that he was feeling kind of tired. He wasn't use to carrying a person, even if she was light. Inuyasha sighed and then slowed to a stop. "See, I knew you were tired." She said lightly, and jumped off his back.

"Shut up." He glowered. "I am not…It's just a good place to stop." It was a nice little clearing with a small river on one side. He sat down on the ground and pulled out the small box that contained the Shikon shard. 'How am I going to find all of them?' He asked himself. He side glanced at Kagome, who had walked over to the river, and was looking at it strangely. "Hey, what's wrong with you?"

"Its nothing…I thought I felt something." She shook her head and bent down to get a drink. 

"My slave has something wrong with her brain." He said sarcastically.

"I do not!" She said defensively, then stomped back over to Inuyasha. She stopped. "There it is again…" She looked back over to the river. Inuyasha stood up, just as the rivers water began to froth. 

"What's that?" He took a step closer. A tiny, spider-like creature crawled out from the river. "Heh, what a wimpy creature." Inuyasha laughed. Kagome just stared at it.

"Are you blind?" She asked him. 

"What kind of question is that?" He demanded.

"The shard! It has a shard on its forehead!" She cried.

"What!" Inuyasha stared at the tiny creature, but couldn't see anything at all. "Well, I'll kill it anyway." He decided, then blinked as the little creature began grow in sized. "So, it is a little bigger now…" He watched as it continued to grow until it stood at least three times the height of him. 

"A lot bigger." Kagome corrected, and ran behind Inuyasha as it began to crawl over to them. "What are you waiting for? Go kill it!" She cried.

"So you think you are so tough with your growing crap!" He yelled at the monster and raised one of his clawed hands. " Sankon Tetsusou." He jumped at it, blinking as his attack just bounced of the creature's hard surface. The creature opened its mouth and a sticky strand of spider web shot at Inuyasha. He ducked and rolled out of the way. "Damn." He swore.

"It sounds like someone is fighting." Miroku said quietly. "Do you think it is Inuyasha?"

"It might be. It's strange that we would catch up to them so fast though." Sango whispered back, walking quietly forward.

"Not really. We took the short cut off the mountain, while Inuyasha took the long way. He shouldn't be too far away. It is good that you can read tracks so well." He complemented her.

"That's what youkai exterminators have to do." She shrugged, but inside was very pleased by the compliment. They pulled up to where they could peer into the clearing. "You are right. It's Inuyasha and he is battling some kind of youkai…but that's a spider youkai. It shouldn't be that big." She said after a moment.

"It might have a shard. That's probably why he's fighting it." Miroku tightened his grip on the staff. "Should we wait to see which one loses and then fight, or fight now?"

"Now is as good as later." 

Kagome watched the fight, wondering how Inuyasha was going to defeat such a creature. 'I wish I could help…' She thought to herself, then stopped again. It was that feeling…the same one she got whenever the shard was around. She almost screamed as a giant boomerang came flying from the trees. Inuyasha ducked as the weapon flew over his head and hit the creature directly in its many, vulnerable eyes. 

The monster howled in pain and fell to the ground, its many arms clawing at the boomerang stuck in its eyes. Inuyasha took this chance to attack, landing a blow directly on the monster forehead. It didn't do any damage itself, but the shard that had been lodged there fell to the ground. Inuyasha didn't seem to notice and instead leapt backwards, as though preparing for some kind of retaliating blow. The spider youkai began to shrink until it was back into the small size of before. It scrambled around for a second before jumping back into the river. "Eh? What was that all about?" Inuyasha demanded. "First it grows, then it shrinks, and then it runs off." Kagome walked forward and picked the shard off the ground.

"It is because this fell out." She told him.

"The shard!" He cried and reached out to take it, but a voice called out to them.

"Hey, we are the one who defeated the monster, so it is ours!" A young woman cried, walking from the bushes and picking up the fallen boomerang.

A man followed her. "Yes, and you can also give us the one that you have already." Kagome eyes opened in shock as she recognized the guy. 

"You are the guy that asked me to bare his child!" She yelled. 

"He asked you to what?!" Inuyasha cried.

"I am honored that you remember me." Miroku said. "We don't want to cause any trouble, and if you give us the shards, then you all can live."

"Heh, do you want to fight?" Inuyasha growled. 'These people seem strong.' Kagome realized. It wasn't just because he had that staff or she had the boomerang. She felt some kind of strange power emanating from Miroku's hand, one she did not noticed before, and from the other person, she saw that she had three shards in the bag that she carried on her side. And, even though they were trying to get the shards from them, they did seem like nice people. 'He asked us for the shard, and didn't just start fighting.' Kagome thought to herself. 

Without waiting for the two opposing sides to begin to fight, she stepped between them. "Kagome, move out of the way!" Inuyasha demanded. 

"We don't have anything against you." Miroku told her, also motioning for her to get out of the way.

"If we kill your master, you will be free anyway, so this is like a double gain for you." The girl, Sango if Kagome remembered correctly, told her.

"I don't want Inuyasha to be killed." She told the two. "I don't mind having Inuyasha as my master and whatever. And you don't seem like the kind of people who go and kill people out of sheer pleasure…so how about…um…" Kagome thought quickly. "How about if you join us?" She was kind of surprised when those words came out of her mouth. She didn't even know these people. But, now that she thought about it, it would make sense for two groups, both looking to complete the Shikon no Tama, to work together.

"What are you asking them?" Inuyasha demanded. "They can't join me! I didn't say they could!"

"Why can't they?" She asked.

"Because--I am the one collecting the shards!" 

"Well, fine, then. I will give them this shard. They did earn it."

"I command you not to!" Inuyasha yelled.

"I don't have to listen to you!"

"You do too!"

"Eh...this is a different master and slave relationship." Miroku murmured to Sango, who nodded in agreement. "Why should we join you?" He called back. "We could just take the shards from you."

Kagome looked up from her argument with Inuyasha. "Well, you have three shards and we have two shards. You guys look pretty strong--I am not saying that Inuyasha isn't stronger," She said as Inuyasha glared at her. "But obviously you have been doing this for awhile. How else could you have escaped from Iferious?"

"How do you know how any shards we have?" Sango asked in surprise.

"Well, I'm not blind. I can see them in that bag by your side." Kagome replied, pointing to the bag.

"You can see the shards?" Miroku asked.

"Of course…can't you?" Kagome asked. Everyone shook their heads.

"Someone who can see shards would prove to invaluable in trying to collecting all of them and the bigger pieces later." Miroku whispered to Sango.

"Yes, but I don't trust the youkai she is with." She whispered back then sighed. "This is getting more and more complicated." Inuyasha began to glare at Sango, but instead turned to Kagome.

"You can really see the shards?" Inuyasha asked Kagome in amazement.

"That is what I said." She told him. 

"Then we can go find the shards on our own!" He announced. "Your no longer as worthless."

"I was never worthless." She shot back. "And I think they should join us too."

"If we go with you, how do we know Inuyasha won't kill us?" Sango called. 

"Because if he does, I won't tell him if I see any of the shards." She announced. "And if you kill Inuyasha, then I won't tell you if when I see any of the shards." She was glad to discover that she had a strange talent for seeing the pink stones. Otherwise, she suspected they would never work together. 

"But we have been doing just fine--" Sango began, but then Miroku pulled her aside.

"It has taking us three months to find three shards." He whispered. "With Kagome, we can find them even faster."

"Fine then." Sango sighed. "We will work together for awhile, but if it doesn't work, then Inuyasha and us will fight for the shards." She looked at Inuyasha, still not trusting the hanyou.

"Agreed." Kagome said happily.

  
"I didn't say they could…" Inuyasha muttered. Kagome looked at him and smiled.

"Hey, you want to get the shards, right? Maybe they know where the other pieces are. If so, then we can collect them even faster." Kagome was feeling pretty proud of her impromptu plan. Now that everyone was under an uncertain alliance, Miroku and Sango sat down on the grass, probably discussing what had just happened. Kagome noticed that they both did not trust Inuyasha at all, which seemed reasonable since most youkai were mean. 'Inuyasha isn't that bad.' She decided. 'He could have not let them join, but he relented.' She and Inuyasha sat down by the river.

"Hey," He began suddenly. "Do you really not mind me for a master?" 

"Huh?" Kagome asked, startled by the question. "No, I don't mind." She told him, realizing with a little amazement that her words were true. He nodded.

"I am glad." For some reason, Kagome felt her heart begin to quicken. 

"What do you mean by--" She was cut off by Sango, who had approached them. 

"Hey…" She began. "Miroku and I were curious…Kagome, are you Inuyasha's concubine?"

"EH?" Kagome yelled, Inuyasha standing up.

  
"She is not my concubine!!" He cried. Sango looked a little relieved.

"No, Miroku, you were wrong!" She called out, and joined back with her companion, hitting him on the head as she sat down. "You and your perverted ideas." 

"Why does everyone assume that!?" Kagome sighed, and Inuyasha walked off. "Where are you going?" She asked

"Keh, I just smell something off in the distance. I am going to check it out." He told her. 

"Can I come?" She asked.

"No. It smells like it'd be poisonous for you weaker beings." He laughed, then paused. "Give me the shard." He demanded.

"Why should I?"

"Because I don't want them taking it." He told her.

"I don't think they will. They look trust worthy." 'Besides, I feel like I should hold on the shards.' She told herself quietly. It was true; the shards seemed to be beckoning her. 

"You can tell just by looking at them?" He asked incredulously.

"Yes." She glared. "You need to be a little more trusting."

"Well, you need to be less naive." He declared. Miroku and Sango watched their argument with interest.

"How about if we give Kagome one of our shards and she can keep the one that you have? That should make it fair. Then we will still each have at least one, so neither of us will be leaving without the other." Miroku suggested. Inuyasha thought for a minute and agreed.

"I guess use-to-be slaves do have good ideas." He waited for Kagome to take a shard Sango offered. "I'll be back in just a second." He leaped off into the trees. Kagome watched him go, and then paused. 'Wait…what is that?' In the distance, an oily cloud of smoke stained the perfect sky. 'There is a fire…and that is the direction of my village…Souta!' Kagome stood up and began to run for the trees.

"Hey, were are you going?" Sango demanded, jumping in front of her. Kagome pushed past her.

"It's my village!" She cried. "Wait here for Inuyasha!" She pleaded. "Souta…" She whispered. "It can't be my village. It can't be my village. Souta…' She inwardly cried. The dark smoke seemed to mock her. She felt an intense fear overcome her, but ran on, ignoring as the trees scraggly limbs tried to hold her back, clawing at her clothes and hair. It didn't matter. All that she could see was her brother and the smoke.

*******

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile! It may take a little bit for the next chapter--I have to study for finals this week *sigh*. So do you like or dislike? I know that Miroku and Sango kinda of joined Inuyasha and Kagome too quick, but I didn't want to draw it out too long…Anyway, I am attempting to get the Kagome and Inuyasha relationship going--there will be romance! I just take longer. ^_^ Thanks to all the people that have reviewed! Please continue; they motivate me to continue faster.

Please Review! 


	7. Poisonous Encounters

Disclaimer: I do not own any Anime, and that includes Inuyasha.

Inuyasha covered his nose with one arm as he came closer to the strange smell he had noticed earlier. The odor was strong, and as he mentioned to Kagome, potentially poisonous. In fact, his sense of smell was deadened by the scent, probably a temporary effect of the poison. 'Ah well,' he thought to himself. His vision, however, was perfectly fine. The village was in mangled disarray. Dead bodies lay unattended to the ground and a fire had torched the houses to their very foundations. 'A youkai attack?' He wondered to himself. 

He crouched on the tree branch, seeing if there were any signs of movement. He doubted anyone would be alive, since if the youkai didn't kill him, the poison surely did. His nose was muffed up right now, so he couldn't even check to see if anyone had managed to escape. 'Not that I care of course; I'm just curious.' He reassured himself. Still, he thought that this village had been near the place he first saw Kagome. He shook his head and began to run back to where he left all those humans, not noticing the dark figure that approached the village after he had turned. 

He made it back in good time, running easily through the trees. His sense of smell was slowly returning, something he was grateful for, since loosing his smell was like humans loosing their sight. He relied heavily on it. Inuyasha bounded to the clearing, where the two human people Kagome got to join were standing, looking very concerned about something. But, where was Kagome? 

"Hey!" He shouted getting their attention. "Where's my slave?" He felt this unusual feeling of worry, which he just shoved aside. Youkai didn't worry about slaves.

"She ran off shortly after you did, saying something about villages." Miroku informed. "We would have gone after her, but if we did, then you probably would have assumed we were kidnapping her, so we thought it would be best to wait for you."

"Which way?" He immediately asked, watching with dread as Miroku pointed back behind him, the way he had just went. 'Kagome, was that really you village?' He wondered. "Stay here!" He ordered. "I'll bring that idiot back." He ran back, this time his fear for Kagome greatly increasing. 'Why couldn't she just listen to what I said? I would have been right back.' He thought quietly. 'But then again, that wouldn't be Kagome.'

"He really does look worried about her." Sango said softly to Miroku. "That isn't something you find in many masters. Maybe we could trust them." 

"Trusting a youkai--a hanyou…" Miroku shrugged. "We've seen stranger things happen."

"Should we follow him?" Sango questioned, taking a step forward.

"I don't think that he would be so worried unless there is something dangerous out there, and he mentioned that he smelled poison." Miroku said thoughtfully. "It would probably be in our best interest to remain here." Sango reluctantly nodded.

Kagome pushed away the branches of all too familiar trees and found herself staring in the bleak reality of her village. 'No!' She screamed inside. Her once beautiful home was destroyed. Bodies of people she had grown up with covered the ground. She now had no where to return to…'Souta!' She rushed forward, choking slightly at the fetid smell. "Souta!" She called, running through her crumbled city. "Souta!" She stumbled to where their house use to be. She pushed back a few boards. She didn't know what would be worst--finding him dead or not finding him at all. 

Kagome sagged to the ground, feeling a little faint. "No, I have to keep looking." She told herself. For some reason, her body was refusing to respond. "Keep looking." She whispered. "Souta." Kagome felt her eyes begin to close.

"What's this? You are alive…" Kagome managed to look up and saw a strange man wearing a baboon outfit. She felt a dark energy radiate from him. Dark and evil…

"My brother…" She struggle to get out. Maybe this person knew where her brother was.

"Your brother is likely dead. And you will be too." He eyes narrowed. "There is something strange about you…where is the Shikon no Tama?"

The Shikon?' Kagome thought to herself, but was unable to speak. 'Shikon?' Her thoughts drifted to what he had just told her. 'Dead…my brother…dead…' She felt her tears begin to run down her face. '…dead…just like I am going to be.'

"The poison has taken affect." She heard him say as he walked off. "I killed your village…and didn't get what I wanted." Kagome could hardly hear him now…the poison was making her so sleepy…so sleepy…

Inuyasha felt his heart beat quickly as he neared that cursed village. His smell was once again taken from him. 'Damn. I'll have to rely on my eyes.' He ran through the broken streets, searching through the never-ending rubble. "Kagome!" He yelled. There was no reply. That scared him even more. 'Stupid humans could never survive in this poison.' He thought frantically to himself. He jumped up on the only building that remained standing and looked around. "Kagome…there you are." He saw her lying on the ground, eyes firmly closed. He rushed to her side and picked her up carefully, not liking the fact that she felt so cold next to him. So lifeless. 

He ran from the village back to the clean air of the forest. "Kagome?" He whispered softly, trying to get her awake. She remained motionless. He reached out and quickly checked her pulse. 'Good she is a live…but now what?' He didn't know anyone who could help with poison…wait. That guy--Miroku, he had a staff like a Buddha priest. Maybe he knew how to heal this. Inuyasha tightened his grip around Kagome and ran back to where the boomerang girl and Miroku were waiting. "You!" He said, pointing to Miroku. "You're a priest, right?"

"I am a monk." He said. 

"Then heal Kagome." Inuyasha hissed threateningly as he placed Kagome gently on the ground. 

Miroku just stared at him for a moment, started by Inuyasha's sudden outburst. Then he knelt down beside Kagome and checked her pulse, just as Inuyasha had done. He lifted his staff above her and said muttered a few low words. Out of Kagome's mouth poured black smoke, smoke that wrapped around Miroku's staff and disappeared. Miroku opened his eyes. "The poison is gone from her, but it had settle in her lungs, and to put it in understandable terms, in a way drowned her." He swung his staff slowly around, making sure that Sango and Inuyasha remained a certain distance away. "I am afraid I will have to perform mouth to mouth." He said seriously.

"Mouth…to…mouth…" Sango and Inuyasha both asked, unconvinced. "You just want to kiss her." Sango accused. Miroku smiled. 

"I think I 'd rather kiss Sango." He said.

"You just can't resist hitting on girls." Sango replied, but she didn't look as upset as what would normally be expected. Inuyasha jumped in front Miroku.

"Are you sure she needs mouth to mouth?" He demanded.

"Why, yes." He said seriously. "I will just go and…" Sango hit him over the head with her boomerang. "I really am serious!" He cried. 

"Then let Inuyasha do it." She told him. 

"M-ME!" Inuyasha stuttered, not prepared for that request.

"Yes." Miroku smiled. "You kiss--eh…perform mouth to mouth on poor Kagome."

"I told YOU to heal her!" Inuyasha protested. 

"Do you want her to live or die?" Miroku asked. "The time wasted in arguing makes her death more assured."

"What? Why didn't you say that before we started arguing!?" Inuyasha cried. 

"I thought you knew."

"But-but…" Inuyasha began to protest again, but after the looks he received from both Sango and Miroku, he gave in. "Fine then." He muttered. Inuyasha knelt down beside Kagome. 'Oh, crap, what have I gotten myself into?' He thought frantically to himself. He looked at Kagome and took in a deep breath. 'This is to save Kagome.' He told himself. 'Its not like I am actually KISSING her, just helping her to breathe.' Keeping that thought securely in his mind, he leaned over…

"Just get it over with." Miroku reached over and shoved Inuyasha's head the rest of the way down. "See how much fun that was…" He smiled cheerily as Sango glared at him.

"Mouth to mouth. Not kissing." She said firmly. 

"Call it what you like." Miroku said calmly. 

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was having a very unique experience. He had never kissed anybody before, other than his mother when he was very, very little, but this was very different. 'Not kissing.' He reminded himself and used one hand to pinch Kagome's nose shut while he blew in oxygen to her lungs. 'Not kissing.' He thought again. Still, her lips were surprisingly soft…

Kagome suddenly began to move and turned over to her side, coughing frantically. Inuyasha immediately jumped at least fifteen feet away and put on his normal uncaring face. "So, you're still alive? Bah." He said.

Kagome sat up and glared at him. "Of course I am still alive…" She trailed off as her memories of what had happened rushed back to her. "My village." She said softly. "My friends. My brother. They are all gone." A few tears ran down the side of her face. 

"Hey--" Inuyasha began, startled by her sudden display of emotion. "Don't cry." He said firmly. 'I hate seeing people cry.' He thought to himself, approaching Kagome. "I order you not to--"

"That guy!" Kagome cut him off, suddenly standing up. She swayed on her feet and fell against Inuyasha. "Sorry." She stood back up, keeping one hand on Inuyasha's shoulder to steady herself. "A guy was at my village." She said, her eyes narrowing and her tone becoming more and more angry. "He said he destroyed my village." Sango and Miroku, who had been silent until now, looked at one another in surprise.

"What did he look like?" Miroku demanded.

"Was he asking for anything?" Sango pressed.

"He wore a baboon outfit and asked for the Shikon no Tama." Kagome said evenly. 

"Naraku." Miroku and Sango both said at the same time.

"That is the name of the bastard that killed my brother?" Kagome said angrily. "I want to make him pay."

"We all want to make him pay." Sango said, in a tone that copied Kagome's own. "He destroyed my village as well." Her eyes grew clouded with anger. "A long time ago, a sorceress grew tired of the offsets of good and evil and decided to create a stone that would give the user tremendous powers. It was meant to be given to the side of good, to help them forever banish the evil from this land. She put both her heart and soul into the shard and created the Shikon no Tama." Sango spoke softly. "Unfortunately, good does not possess the will to kill or a desire for power, so they never did use the Shikon's power to kill off the evil. With something so strong, it was only natural that those with evil hearts to want the Shikon for themselves. One man by the name of Naraku stole the Shikon no Tama from the people the sorceress had given it to, and used it to expand his power and combine himself with hundreds of youkai. Destruction rained the land and death was now common place." 

Miroku stepped in. "The creator of the Shikon no Tama still lived inside the shard and managed to free it from Naraku's grasp. The sorceress regretted her actions in creating such a weapon, so she split it up into four parts so no one that had succumbed to evil will ever get the tremendous power of the shard. Each piece had a certain aspect to it. One is the Courage, and it was given to the ancestors of Sango's village in the east. Another is Friendship and it was sent to dragon youkai in the north. The other is Wisdom and it was given to a race know as the Maja's in the west. The last was the Love. It was given to a powerful Miko in a small settlement to the south. It was believed that now the land would be safe." He shook his head softly. "Unfortunately, it never is that simple."

"There are those who will forever be in search of the shards. Those like Naraku." Sango spat out the name like a curse. "Even though the separation of the Shikon has weakened him, he still searches. For some reason, he never tries to get the quarters on his own, just sends out his minions to do his dirty work, that bastard. My villagers were known as youkai exterminators and were strong protectors of the shard. A few others and me were drawn away from the village, sent on a wild goose chase by Naraku. We were the strongest, and without us, the village was destroyed. My brother...he stayed behind. He was never a fighter, so he stayed behind." Sango shuddered as she recalled bad memories. "When we returned, youkai had burned the village to the ground…and my brother, Kohaku…was found dead on the altar where the Shikon had laid. He had sacrificed himself to save it, using his last breath to shatter the dreadful piece so no singe youkai could get its power. That is what these shards are." She looked at the bag on her side. "They are the results of my brothers heroic actions. And then, the few that were with me were ambushed as we were trying to bury the dead. The youkai had waited for us, knowing we'd return…and Naraku had given them something that hid all traces of them from us. We never knew they were there."

"That's terrible." Kagome breathed.

"I swore then that I'd destroy the Shikon no Tama. Nothing that causes this much pain deserved to remain on this world. I will also kill Naraku." She said. "Unfortunately, the only way to destroy the Shikon is if it is whole again. That is why I am collecting the pieces. I met Miroku, and he has been helping me on my mission." 

Miroku smiled. "Actually, I am the selfish one. I joined so I could destroy Naraku, and since Naraku is trying to collect the pieces as well, I figure one of these days we will meet. He cursed my family." He said, raising up a rosary covered hand. "Members of my family are now born with an air rip that will eventually swallow them up. If I kill Naraku, then I save my family. But, Sango, has convinced me of her cause." He said, placing a hand on her butt. She sighed and backhanded him on the face.

  
"Pervert." She stomped a ways off. Kagome had listened to all of this with great interest, realizing her suffering was not alone. Inuyasha, of course, had found some of this a trifle boring, his ears only perking up when Sango mentioned the locations of the pieces of Shikon. 

"We will help you." Kagome told her. "Right Inuyasha?"

"Bah." He said and walked off. Kagome's balance was gone and she started to fall again, but Inuyasha quickly spun around and caught her. "Forgot that you were so weak." He muttered. He sniffed her. "You may want to take a bath. Poison traces are still on you." 

"There is a hot springs near here." Sango told her. "I noticed it while we were following you."

"Really?" Kagome asked happily. Sango reached out and put Kagome's arm around her, helping her to walk. Inuyasha released his slave a little reluctantly to the boomerang lady, even though he mentally yelled at himself that he didn't care where she went. He watched as Sango and Kagome limped off to the hot springs.

Miroku sat on the ground, also keeping one eye on the leaving girls. "You certainly are nice to her." He said after a minute.

"What? Nice to Kagome! Feh!" Inuyasha cried. "She is just some stupid slave." He sat next to him, arms crossed. 

"So you've said. If she is some stupid slave, then why do you keep saving her? Most youkai's could care less if they live or die." Miroku smiled.

"Shut up." Inuyasha said tightly. 'Yes, why do I keep saving her?' He inwardly questioned.

Kagome sank into the warm water and breathed a sigh of happiness. "The water is so nice!" She exclaimed. Sango also slipped in, smiling at her words. 

"Hot springs are nice, aren't they?" Sango said, then began to absently collect rocks by the side. 

"Um…what are you doing?" Kagome questioned. 

"Oh, Miroku is going to attempt to spy on us later on." She said firmly. Kagome looked started, then recalled Miroku's personality and nodded in agreement.

"Is he difficult to get along with?" Kagome questioned. "He seems kind of…" She trailed off.

"A pervert? Yes, he is. Ever since I met him he was like that. His opening phrase for all the beautiful women he meets is 'Will you bear my child?'" Sango looked thoughtful. "He got worst once I told him of my problems."

"What! Was he trying to take advantage of you?" Kagome demanded. Sango looked up in surprise, as though realizing what her words impression was.

"No! Far from it! He knows that I'd never let him." She said. "He is a pervert and a playboy, but he is really nice and smart. He saw how unhappy I got whenever I talked about my village and my mission, and would hit on me as a way to distract me of my problems. It's hard to remain too serious or fall too far in grief while he is around. Of course, you better never tell him that I told you that." She said quickly. "It would seem like I was getting attached to him." Kagome laughed, then paused.

"…Um…this is off subject, but how did I get back? I mean, the last thing I remembered was the poison and being sleepy. Then, I suddenly was awake and back in the clearing." She questioned.

"Oh, Inuyasha brought you back." Sango told her. "He seemed really worried about you and got Miroku to heal you. Of course, then Miroku tried to do mouth to mouth on you, but I wouldn't let him." She told her, as though in reassurance. 

"Mouth to mouth?" Kagome asked. "I needed mouth to mouth?"

"Yes. The poison had settled in your lungs and stopped your breathing." Sango told her.

"Then who--"

"Inuyasha." Sango replied, already guessing the question.

"Eh!? He did?" Kagome was amazed, as well as embarrassed. She placed her hand on her lips. "He saved me…Inuyasha…" She wondered out loud. For some odd reason, she felt her face go a shade too dark. 'Why am I blushing?' She chided herself. 'It's just Inuyasha…' 

Inuyasha watched, as Miroku seemed to be counting to himself. "Ten…nine…eight…" 

"What the hell are you doing?" Inuyasha demanded. 

"Seven…six…I am just counting down…five…four…" Miroku said calmly.

"Why?" 

"Three…two…one…Okay." He stood up. "By now, the girls would be in the hot springs." He began to walk in the same direction that the two girls had gone early, though he was being careful not to make a sound.

"Heh?! You are going to go spy on them?" Inuyasha asked in disbelief, running over in front of Miroku.

"Of course." He said, bemused that Inuyasha hadn't realized it before. "Sango will be disappointed if I don't make the attempt." He spoke solemnly, and continued on his way.

Inuyasha followed. "She wants you to spy on her?" Inuyasha's tone held a lot of doubt. Sango had not seemed like the type who would want that.

"In her own way, yes. She will throw a rock at me before I get to see much, and then spend the rest of the night ignoring me or glaring at me from a distance." He said honestly. "Either that or she will viscously attack me with her boomerang."

"Then why are you going?!" Inuyasha cried. "It sounds like she is hinting for you not to spy on her, moron!" 

"Would you like to join me?" Miroku offered.

"Why would I join you, stupid?" Inuyasha scorned. "I don't care much for Sango attacking me."

"Well, I thought that you would want to go for Kagome, not Sango." Miroku said.

"What!" Inuyasha cried. "She is my slave, you idiot monk!" Miroku signaled him to be quiet. "Huh?" He asked, but in a quieter tone.

"We're here." He said. Inuyasha listened, and sure enough her heard feminine voices on the other side of the bush.

"You tricked me!" He accused. "I didn't want to come!"

"Then why did you follow me?" Miroku asked, and proceeded to search for a peek hole through the bushes. "Wait…" He said softly. 

"Eh?" Inuyasha wondered, and suddenly noticed that neither of the girls were talking.

"PERVERTS!!" Came a sudden screech and both Miroku and Inuyasha were bombarded with rocks. Two girls peered at them over the bush. "Hentai." Sango said clearly.

"Lechers." Kagome finished. They both were back in their clothes and fire flared in their eyes. Miroku and Inuyasha both stepped back out of shock of the girls sudden rage, but then the monk relaxed a bit and put one hand behind his head and laughed.

"I guess we got here too late." He said, earning a few more rocks thrown his way. 

"Stop bringing me into this!" Inuyasha shouted. "I didn't even mean to come here! This is all you fault, damn monk!" Kagome was still glaring at him, but no longer looked angry. 'I hope she doesn't think I am like Miroku.' He thought worriedly. 'Not that I care what she thinks.' He corrected to himself.

Sango sighed her annoyance. "Either way, lets go." She said. "We have delayed looking for the shards long enough."

"To where?" Miroku questioned. 

"I think we should go west." Sango told him after a moment.

"Hey, you said one was located in the south." Kagome said. "Why don't we start there?"

"Well, even though the shards started in one place, that doesn't meant they are still there." Sango told her. "The shards naturally want to end up getting back together, so they exchange hands many times, to try to meet that goal. I just happen to know for certain that the Wisdom still remains in the west. After the Miko died in the south, the Love that she held vanished."

"And we also have to look for the tinier pieces as well, right?" Kagome asked. Sango nodded.

"It's getting late." Miroku looked at the darkening sky. "We should make camp for the night." He and Sango went forward, walking back to the clearing they had been in before. Inuyasha, followed, and was about to run ahead, since following just wasn't him, when Kagome's voice stopped him.

"Inuyasha." She began. "Thank you for saving my life earlier." 

"Huh?" It took Inuyasha a moment to realize what she was talking about. Memories of what had happened before rushed back to him. He felt an uncommon blush take over his face. "Well if my only slave died, I'd look pretty stupid, wouldn't I?" He muttered.

Her eyes grew sad. "Still, I would have died in my village…and then no one would be left to remember them…or get revenge for them…" 

"Hey…" Inuyasha said. "Look, if you die, then I will get revenge for them, okay?" He hated to see anyone cry and tears were definitely forming in the beautiful pits of Kagome's eyes. 'Shit! Beautiful pits? What the hell is that?' He silently cursed. 

Kagome looked startled for a moment, then smiled at his weak attempts of comfort. "Thank you, Inuyasha."

*********

So, what did you think? ^_^ I appreciate all the reviews people have posted! I'll try to get the next chapter out soon!

Please review!!!

*Merry Christmas!*


	8. Those annoying cave people ^_~

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

"How far is this place?" Inuyasha called back to Sango.

"It takes only three days from here." She told him.

"Bah! Too long." Inuyasha muttered. "You humans just slow me down--hey, Kagome, you still have the shards right?" He asked to the girl on his back. She still felt a little weak from the poison and had elected him to carry her. 

"Yes." She sounded kind of surprised, as though she'd forgotten about them. 

"Well, give mine back." He demanded. "And give Sango's back as well." He felt her shift behind him as she searched through her pockets.

"Um…" Came a voice behind him.

  
"What?"

"They've merged." Kagome told him. 

"Huh?" Inuyasha stopped walking and looked over his shoulder to the pink shard Kagome had in her hand. The individual shards were gone in place of a larger, single one. "What did you do to it?" He demanded.

"I didn't do anything! All I did was put all three shards into my pocket, and now they're whole." She sounded irked over his accusation.

"But how--three? You only had two." Inuyasha said suddenly, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. 

"Um…" Kagome nervously laughed. "I had the other one of yours too."

"WHAT!" Inuyasha cried, dumping Kagome as he pulled out the box and opened it. Sure enough, the shard was gone. He threw the box down in disgust while Kagome picked herself up off the ground, frowning at him.

"Would you warn me before doing that? Besides, it was your fault." Kagome told him crossly. "You ought to be more responsible." 

"MY fault! You are the one that took the shard! When did you take it?" He demanded.

"The night when I tried to escape. You haven't had it for a few days now. You are so unobservant." Kagome said, though a small smile was playing on her lips. 'She is teasing me, damn her.' He was now completely irritated.

"We are not planning on stealing the shard from you anyway." Miroku said calmly. "We need Kagome to see the other shards, and your strength could come in handy." 

"Then give her your other two shards." Inuyasha demanded. Sango, completely ignoring Inuyasha, was looking curiously at the shard in Kagome's hand.

"It has never done that before." She said, sounding a little impressed. "You're able to see the shards and combine them together."

"Hey! Listen to me!!" Inuyasha growled. 

"Did you do anything with them?" Miroku inquired, also walking beside Kagome. She shook her head.

"No…all I did was put them in my pocket." Kagome replied. Inuyasha stood glowering in the background. 

"You're ignoring me." He said angrily.

"That's so strange." Sango took the two shards out of her leather bag. "See, these didn't merge." 'What's so impressive about the shards merging anyway?' Inuyasha thought to himself. "Here." Sango handed her the two shards. "I think you should hold onto them." 

"Really?" Kagome asked, a smile covering her face. Inuyasha wasn't sure whether to be glad that at least Kagome had the shards, or mad that the entire decision was made without anyone even listening to him. 

"You're all annoying." He said finally. Kagome took the shards and set them beside the larger one, watching with awe as the two seemed to melt into the first and become one. 

"Wow." She breathed.

"If you're done looking at stupid, merging shards, lets go." Inuyasha knelt down and waited for Kagome to climb back on his back. He felt Kagome's hand touch his shoulder, but then she stopped. "Hey? What's wrong?" 

"This feeling…" She said softly. "…a shard!"

"Where?" Inuyasha cried. She pointed into the trees. "Lets go!" He picked up Kagome and sprinted in the direction she had pointed, Miroku and Sango following close behind. 

"It's in that cave!" Inuyasha looked in front of him, staring in surprise at the gaping hole of a rocky cave. Tiny skulls formed a barrier around it, skulls too little to be humans, but disturbing nonetheless. Kagome jumped off Inuyasha's back, and slowly approached the barrier.

"Stay back, Kagome." Inuyasha told her. He had a strange feeling about this place. Kagome stopped within inches of the strange skulls. "It's in there, huh?" He leapt forward, meaning to bound directly into the caves mouth, but an invisible wall stopped him. He came crashing back on the ground. "Eh?" 

"The skulls seem to be creating a barrier." Miroku said thoughtfully. 

"Really?" Snapped Inuyasha.

"Can you remove it?" Sango questioned. Miroku nodded.

"It will take some time, though." He sat down and placed his staff in front of him. 

  
"Waiting on some stupid monk…" Inuyasha glared. "Kagome--" He looked over at the girl, a little surprised by the serious expression on her normal cheerful, or angry, face.

"There's no barrier." She said simply. 

"Yes there is, idiot." He smirked, tapping the invisible wall. She shrugged and walked over toward him, and had the misfortune to catch a small rock with the tip of the toe of her shoe. Her eyes grew wide as she stumbled into Inuyasha, and he, not expecting her to fall, was caught off guard and felt himself slipping as well. They both fell on the ground. "Be more careful." He told her.

She, however, was looking at her surroundings. "I told you there was no barrier." She smiled and picked herself up off him. 

"Huh?" He blinked, realizing they were on the other side of the skulls, directly in front of the cave's entrance. "But how…?" 

"Come on!" Kagome used one hand to pull Inuyasha to his feet. "We'll get the shard!" She called back to a very surprised Miroku and Sango. 

"Why are you so set on getting the shards now?" Inuyasha muttered. "I thought your goal was to kill Naraku."

"It is." Her eyes narrowed, then softened. "I don't know…I just feel like I should have them. Besides, they are calling me." She said. Her hand was still holding Inuyasha's as she pulled them forward. 'She is strange.' Inuyasha decided. 'Now rocks are calling her.' He decided not to mention she still had a hold of his hand. 

Sango looked at the cave in puzzlement, her hands touching the invisible barrier. "How was she able to get through?" She murmured. Miroku had decided to continue with whatever he planned on doing to get rid of the barrier. Right now, he looked in deep meditation. Sango sighed and sat beside him. 

"I hope they are not planning on stealing the shards and leaving us." Sango said thoughtfully.

"I doubt that Kagome would let Inuyasha, even if he decided too." Came Miroku's voice. Sango nodded, a little surprised that Miroku had been listening to her. She had thought he was completely absorbed in his task. 'I should stop judging him so quickly.' She told herself. "Well, lets go." Miroku stood up.

"I thought you said that it would take you awhile to break down the barrier?" Sango asked.

"No, I only said that to annoy Inuyasha." 

Kagome could feel the shard. It was a strange throbbing feeling in the back of her mind, and every so often she though she could see a faint glimmer of it through the wall. 'Its in here somewhere.' She thought to herself. What she told Inuyasha was true. It was like the shard was calling her…but that was a little strange. She couldn't see in the darkness of the cave, so she kept one hand on the dank walls of the tunnel. "Ouch." She muttered as she ran into something in front of her. Her questing hands felt along it. "Dead end." She said, disappointed. Inuyasha stood beside her and also felt along the walls. "I already told you it was a dead end." 

"You sure you feel a shard beyond this?" He asked.

"Yes." 

"Okay, stand back." Kagome hastily got out of his way, pretty sure about what was coming next.

"Um, Inuyasha, since this is a cave…"

"Sankon Tetsusou!" He yelled, and Kagome saw a red flash as his claws dug deep into the rock, blasting the portion away.

"…do you think it's a good idea to be messing with it?" Kagome sighed. As though to add on to her fears, the cave walls rumbled slightly and loose rocks fell from the ceiling. "Now look what you did. It's unstable." 

"Hey, we got through, right?" Inuyasha exclaimed as he ran on, pulling Kagome after him.   
  
"But it might fall on our heads." Kagome felt her stomach tighten with fear as a few more rocks fell. 'Why does Inuyasha have to act first and think later?' She thought. 'Well, I guess that's Inuyasha.' 

"That just means we have to hurry." Inuyasha picked up Kagome and sprinted through the tunnels. "Which way?" He asked. Kagome couldn't see where he was looking at, but felt the feeling was strongest to her right.

"Right." She said. "You have good eyes, don't you?"

"Of course." He said boastfully. "Most youkai do. That's why we're stronger."

"Why do I even ask?" Kagome sighed. Inuyasha suddenly slowed and set Kagome down.

"I smell something." He said softly. "I don't know what it is though…stay here." She heard his footsteps leave her. Suddenly, Kagome felt very alone as a dead silence settled around her. She hadn't realized what company and safeguard Inuyasha was until he left her. Alone. In the middle of a strange cave. 'So irresponsible.' She thought, feeling a little disappointed. 'Well, I am sure this is was he thinks is best, in his own way.' She sat down against the wall, shivering a little in the cold air. The cave rumble again, this time with increasing force. 'It's going to land right on my head.' She thought worriedly to herself. Too add on to her growing fear, a massive boulder dropped by her feet. She leapt up and ran in the direction of Inuyasha. 

"I don't care what he says." She said out loud. "I am not going to be buried alive in this stupid cave." 'Since when do I listen to him?' She told herself, a small smile forming. She rushed forward, hands outstretched to avoid running into any walls--now that would be painful. Kagome suddenly stopped.

The cave was too quiet now…like the wake before a storm…it sent shivers running down her spine. Then, in one groan, the cave began to collapse.

Inuyasha ran alone along the cave tunnels. He felt a little bad about leaving Kagome alone, but he felt something unsettling about these caves, and he didn't want to place her in unnecessary danger. 'What is that smell?' He thought to himself. He was surprised to find the tunnel ending suddenly at a small, wooden door. He wondered whether he should knock or just tear the door down. 

"Don't stand out there all day. Come in." Came a scratchy voice inside. Inuyasha pulled open the door, surprised to find himself in a small room. A small fireplace crackled in one corner, and an old woman sat on a cushion on a floor. "I was expecting you."

"Who are you, old woman?" He demanded. The scent that came from her was human…and youkai. 'A hanyou?' He wondered. No wonder he was confused by the smell; hanyou's weren't common…

"Yes, we are a rare breed, aren't we? Never belonging to either species, but wanting to belong to both." She said, taking a sip of the tea in front of her. "And yes, I can read your mind."

"Eh?" He said, startled, then shook his head. 'Who cares if this hanyou can read my mind? I need to get what I came for and return to Kagome.' "You have the Shikon shard?" He demanded. The old woman withdrew something out of her pockets. 

"Yes."

"Give it to me." 

She looked at him. "Only if you bring that young girl you were with to me." She said, placing the shard back up.

  
"I don't have to listen to you." He cried.

"Well, she'll die since the cave is about to fall." She took another sip of tea. "Then again, you will never be able to protect her." 

"What?" He started to charge out the door, but her last comment stopped him. "Of course I'll be able to protect her." He snarled.

"Nope." She said. "More than likely she'll die before this journey is done." She sat the teacup down, the thump it made sounding very affirmative. 

"Bitch…" He hissed, then a tremor hit the caves. "Kagome!" He leapt out the door. He raced down the tunnels as rocks began to fall around him. "Kagome!" He yelled again.

"Inuyasha!" He heard a faint cry. It was closer than where he had left her…meaning that she decided not to listen to him. Again. Still, that probably saved her life. He saw her form in the dark, running blindly toward him. He also saw a small portion of the cave roof begin to crumble above her. Without thinking, he tackled her down, and shielded her from the rocks with his own body. The ceiling fell down around him, filling the air with thick dust. 

"Are you okay?" He asked her softly, once the rocks stopped falling. 

"Yes." She coughed. 'That's good.' Inuyasha thought to himself. He realized that his heart was beating unnaturally fast. 'I was actually worried about her. Completely afraid.' He found himself thinking incredulously. 'Damn, I am becoming too attached to her.' He hated being this worried over anybody. But at the same time…he didn't…

He stood up slowly, pushing away the rocks that had covered him. The exit to the caves had been blocked, but the way back to the old woman was perfectly clear. "Thanks." Kagome said after a moment. "Are you…all right?" She gasped in concern.

"Of course." Inuyasha helped her to her feet. 'She was worried about me too.' The air was still thick with the dust and debris, so of course Kagome was having difficult time breathing. She coughed violently, leaning against the wall. "Sorry, I feel a little faint now." She said softly. 'She was still weak from the poison…' He grasped. He pulled her to him.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Kagome nodded, then slumped against him. 'She fainted.' He realized, and carefully picked her up. 'Liar. She wasn't all right.' He ignored the bruises that were forming on his own back, and carried her quickly to the old hanyou's home. "I told you I could protect her." He sneered.

"Yes, and that is why she is unconscious." The old lady snapped. "But, I'll forgive you since you were really worried about her.

"I was not!" He exclaimed.

"Don't lie. I can read your thoughts." She studied the girl in his arms. "Set her over there." 

Inuyasha glared but followed her request. He settled beside Kagome. "Okay, she's here, so give me the shard." He demanded. The old lady ignored him. 'Why is everyone ignoring me today!' He thought to himself.

"I can read your thoughts." 

"Shut up." He hissed. "Just help Kagome, give me the shard, and I'll be on my way." The old woman looked at him.

"You're really worried about her."

"Stop reminding me."

"Really worried."

"Shut up!" He cried. "She is my slave, so of course I am worried!"

"You don't treat her like a slave. Nor do you always think of her as one." The old woman said as she placed a warm cloth on Kagome's head.

"Don't you mean that she doesn't act like a slave, so it's hard to treat her like one?" He yelled. The old woman looked at him.

"I think you like her."

"I don't! And GET OUT of my MIND!" He yelped, clawing his head in annoyance. 'I don't like her.' He reassured himself, but a feeling of doubt kept nagging at him. The old woman smiled knowingly and turned her attention back to Kagome. 

"Do too." 

Inuyasha growled in anger as he leapt to his feet, feeling about ready to kill the hanyou bitch. 'How dare she look into my mind!' He cried inside his head. Kagome decided this was the moment to begin to wake up. Inuyasha sat back down and looked as unworriedly as he could at Kagome.

"Nice try." The old woman smirked.

"Shut up! Shut Up! SHUT UP!" He cried.

"Inuyasha?" Came a soft voice.

"Kagome?" His attention quickly switched to the weak girl on the bed. "You're not dying, right?" He ignored the laughter of the annoying old hanyou.

"Yes." She reassured him. "Thanks." Inuyasha shrugged uncaringly. The hanyou snickered at him. 

"Just like I said, you like--" Inuyasha dove at the cackling woman, cutting off her words. He felt his face blush furiously. 'I don't! You hear me? I don't!' He thought as loudly as he could.

Kagome looked a little confused by the entire scene, but didn't seem inclined to ask, something Inuyasha was VERY grateful for. 'That old hanyou is annoying the hell out of me…but if she was really reading my mind…would that mean…that it was…true?' He hated to think like that. "Oh, Inuyasha," Kagome began.

He looked at her. "Yes."

"You're an idiot."

"Huh?" He was not expecting that. 

"I told you the cave would fall." She said. "And it was you who made it unstable." He glared at her angrily.

  
"Who's the one who saved you?" He demanded. 

"Who's the one that put me in danger?" She shot back. "You could have been killed too, you know." Inuyasha glared at her. 

"Hmph, I am a lot stronger than you, weakling slave." He cried. Kagome started to snap back a reply, but the old woman stopped them.

"I can see why you can't tell." She told Kagome.

"Eh?" 

"Oh, nothing. So, you're Kagome?" She asked her. 

"Um…yes…who are you?" Kagome asked.

"I am an old hanyou that lives in these caves Inuyasha broke." She said. Kagome blinked in surprise.

"A hanyou? And…you have a shard in your pocket." The old woman withdrew it and smiled.

"Yes. You certainly are an observant girl." The hanyou placed the shard into Kagome's hand. "Keep it safe." Kagome nodded. Inuyasha gawked at both of them.

"Why are you being so nice to her?" He demanded to the old hanyou. "Why don't you go and read her mind too?" 'It'd be interesting to know what Kagome thought of me…'

"No can do, Inuyasha. If you want to know, ask her yourself." The old woman said. "I can't read her mind. Too much interference."

"You can read minds?" Kagome asked in surprise. The woman nodded. "What does Inuyasha want to ask me? And what interference?" Inuyasha glared

"I don't want to ask you anything."

"Yes he does." The old woman laughed. Kagome looked at Inuyasha.

"What do you want to ask me?"

"NOTHING." Inuyasha cried. 'NO stray thoughts.' He told himself firmly. "So, what about this interference?" He asked the old woman quickly, before Kagome could ask anything else. 

"Oh, yes." The old woman's eyes narrowed and she turned to Kagome. "I feel several things in you most, most very powerful…" She drifted off. "I thought I sensed something else too…but that's impossible…" She muttered. "Oh well, you know that you have Miko powers, right?"

"What?" Kagome asked, confused. "A Miko…but they are really powerful…"

"Didn't you wonder how you were able to get pass my barrier? Or see the shards? There's a Miko in you, girl." The old hanyou said softly, retrieving her cup of tea.

"A Miko?" Kagome still seemed in shock by the entire idea. 

"No matter how many times you say it, it'll still be true." The old woman said. "And yes, Inuyasha, you are an idiot for not realizing it yourself."

"Damn you…" He muttered. 

"Why are you here all alone?" Kagome asked curiously.

"Well, hanyou's can't fit in with humans, nor will they ever belong with the youkai's. I'm especially out of place, since I can read people's minds, and that creeps most people out. I enjoy my solitude, fortunately, so I came to these caves and placed a spell in front to keep out intruders." She spoke warmly, seeming to enjoy talking about her past. "Well, you better get going. Shikon shards to complete and a Naraku to kill." 

"But…the cave is blocked." Kagome protested. The old hanyou smiled and pulled open a curtain in the back of the room. 

"There are always two ways out of a cave, deary. A front and a back." Kagome thanked the woman and left through the curtain, Inuyasha following. The old woman placed a hand on his arm as he started past her. "Try to protect her, even though in the end it'll be in vane. You'll never be able to fully protect her." The old woman smiled at him. "And no, I'm not senile." Inuyasha growled and stomped after Kagome. The old woman watched them leave. "There are strange things coming." She murmured. "And there is something about that girl…"

Sango and Miroku followed the cave blindly, going very slow because neither of them could see well in the blackness of the tunnels. Sango was a little better off than Miroku, since years of tracking youkai's in the dark gave her excellent night vision. Still, Miroku was just fine having Sango lead the way. He had to keep his hands in check, resisting his urge to grope Sango from behind. He was trying his best to stay honorable, at least until they made their way out of the cave. Sango suddenly paused.

"The cave is shaking." She said softly. "It feels like it is about to fall apart." 

"A cave-in? Probably the work of Inuyasha." Miroku smiled. Rocks began to fall around them. Miroku quickly pulled Sango to the edge of the cave as dust filled the air. "Defiantly a cave-in somewhere." He looked down at Sango. "Shall we continue?"

"Yes…just let go of me. You're holding me too tight, pervert!" She cried, squirming out of his grip. He laughed.

"I was hoping you wouldn't notice." He managed to dodge the boomerang she tried to hit him with. 'I am getting better.' He thought to himself. 

"Come on." They continued down the cave, but soon found it completely impassable. "Kagome and Inuyasha are blocked in…" She muttered, looking at the rocks that were piled up to the ceiling. 

"Hmm, and my air void will probably take away whatever is left holding the cave up…" He murmured, gripping the hand containing the mixed curse. 

"Damn." Sango swore. "I hope Inuyasha and Kagome are okay."

"Don't worry. They are both too stubborn to die." Miroku said. "Lets go back and try to find another way out of the cave. They'd probably get out there."

"And if we don't find them…"

"We can keep going west. That's where they'll be heading anyway." Miroku smiled. "For now, we're on our own again."

Kagome walked carefully through the dark tunnel. There was no light for her eyes to adjust too, so she was pretty much blind. Still, with her hands questing ahead of her, and Inuyasha walking behind, she wasn't too worried. Inuyasha was being unnaturally quiet, and also seemed a little angry ever since leaving the hanyou woman's cave-home. "What's wrong with you?" She finally asked, not liking the silence.

"Nothing."

"I don't think its nothing," She told him. "What did that old lady say that is making you so quiet?"

"NOTHING." He stated again. Kagome didn't have to see him to know that he was glaring at her. 'Hmm…he's being secretive…' Kagome thought to her self.

"Well, so long as it doesn't have to do anything about me." She said easily, listening for any kind of reaction. 

"Why would it be about you?" He laughed. 

"So it is something." Kagome replied.

"No it's NOTHING."

"Then how can it not be about me IF it's nothing?"

"It just is." He yelled, sounding defensive, as well as a little confused by her reasoning.

"I think it is about me." She decided. "Why else would you be so testy about it?"

"It's NOTHING and it's NOT about you." He cried.

"You're contradicting yourself!" She accused. "It's either something and not about me, or nothing at all! It can't be both."

"Now you're confusing me." He muttered. "I'm thinking, so shut up." 'Thinking?' Kagome asked herself. 

"What did that hanyou tell you?" She pressed again. Her mind began to think to everything that had been said before. Okay, the hanyou could read minds. That would probably get on Inuyasha's nerves. Kagome knew that Inuyasha wanted to ask her something. The old hanyou also began to tell her something that Inuyasha didn't want her to know… 'Wait, does Inuyasha…' She thought how angry he was at her all the time and even in the brief nice moments he had, he seemed to be have conflicting emotions. "Do you…hate me?" She asked softly. 'That had to be it. He wouldn't want me to know, since then I'd probably stop looking for the shards for him.' She thought, a little surprised by how sad she was feeling. 'That also why he saved my life all those times…for the shards.' A faint blush appeared on her face as she thought of how he had saved her from the poison…and how he had promised to help her get revenge. 'I am such an idiot!'

"What?" He sounded amazed. 'I must have gotten it right.' Kagome thought, startled to feel tears running down her face.

"You do, don't you? Because I always fight with you and don't do anything that you say?" 

"Hey…" He crossed his arms. "Don't cry."

"Well, that's the way I am! You'll either have to live with it, or just get rid of me!" Kagome cried, feeling herself get a little angry. "You know, I can't even run away anymore. I've no where to run away to, since that bastard destroyed my city and my only brother is dead! Idiot, you're the only one I have left now, so if you want to get rid of me, you'll have to dump me off yourself! Don't expect me to just vanish!" 

"Wait…" He sounded uncomfortable. "I don't want to dump you off anywhere."

"Because I can see shards, right?" She demanded.

"Well, yah, and not only that." He stated. "I don't hate you."

"You don't?" Kagome was startled again. 

"No." Inuyasha looked away. He seemed embarrassed. "I don't." He sounded very sincere, in a strange, confused and surprised way.

"Then why didn't you tell me the moment I asked you!" She shrieked, but at the same time was feeling relieved. 'He doesn't hate me.' She began to feel foolish for even thinking it. He had saved her life so many times, there had to be a reason behind it. "I was an idiot again!" She sobbed. "First with my brother, then with you!"

"I told you I don't hate you." He said again. He brought one hand and wiped away the few tears still under her eyes. "So I command you to not cry." 

"Why can't I cry!?" She yelled. "I want to cry. I jump to conclusions and my family is dead. I want to cry." She sighed and knelt down to the floor, wrapping her arms around her legs. "It's my fault he's dead, you know."

"Who?"

"My brother. He was going to be sacrificed to that youkai, but I took his place. It would have been him enslaved, and I would have been killed in the village. He should have lived. I should have died." She smiled sadly. "Silly, huh? But it's the truth. He would have lived if I hadn't done the stupid thing and been noble." 

"Hey, you tried to save the brat by switching, right? So it's not your fault." Inuyasha told her gruffly.

"But it is my fault! It has always been my fault! My parents died because they were protecting my brother from the youkai, since I had decided to go off on my own again! My brother died because a man was searching for the shards that we are now trying to collect, dying because I left him alone! I swore I'd protect him, ever since my parents died! I swore it!" She cried. "I told him he wouldn't die! I told him to be good! He could have lived!" She couldn't believe the words she was saying. It was as though everything she had been thinking, keeping deep inside, was coming out. She just couldn't stop talking. "It's all my fault. It's my fault for everything…" She whispered. She heard Inuyasha kneel down beside her, and was surprised when she felt his arms wrap around her and pull her to his chest. She just sat there for a moment, crying, and listening to the soothing rhythm of his heart.

"You're just trying to take all the credit." He spoke after a moment. "It can't all be your fault, you moron." He told her, his voice surprisingly gentle. 

"Inuyasha." She said softly. She could feel her heart beating unnaturally fast.

"You're letting you're grief control you. Is that what you want? To wallow in self pity?" He mocked. "You're brother died because you were tying to protect him, right? He would have probably died anyway, since that slave trader would have sold him and his youkai master would have probably eventually killed him." He sighed. "You human's have too many emotions. Youkai's would care less if their family died, unless for some reason there was a mutual gain from it. We don't let our emotions control us."

"And here I thought you were trying to be nice!" Kagome told him, pulling away from him.

"Heh, why would I try to be nice to you?" He growled. Kagome tried to glare at him, but found that she couldn't. Not after making Inuyasha listen to her selfish ramblings.

"Well, sorry for telling you all that." She managed a weak smile. "You can just forget I said anything. My brother is dead, and I'm going to get revenge. You promised you'd help me, and you want me to complete the shards. We have a mutual gain for being together. Sorry for crying." She started to get up, but Inuyasha pulled her back down, and looked carefully into her eyes.

"You sure you're okay?" He demanded in an undemanding tone. 'Something only Inuyasha could accomplish.' Kagome thought to herself, but found herself blushing under his sudden gaze.

"I'm fine." She tried to sound convincing. She didn't know why; maybe it was the poison or the darkness of the caves, but she felt…sad. Kagome had been consumed with anger for her family's deaths, but now…she was left with only grief. "I just need fresh air."

"You're still sad, aren't you?" He asked, sounding a little incredulous. "Humans do get too attached to their families." He let his voice trail off, as though remembering something. He quickly shook his head. "You're a bad liar, so don't lie." He commanded.

"Well, your not very good at comforting." She told him.

"Why should I be?" He demanded. "How was I suppose to know that you were so sad, unless you tell me?"

"So, would you have liked me to tell you earlier that I was really crushed that my only home, my only family, was killed? I thought that it would be obvious that I wasn't happy." She muttered.

"Well, you didn't sound so sad before."

"Maybe I'm a better liar than you think!" She told him. He just looked at her carefully, as though trying to see whether or not she WAS lying.

"You humans are complicated." He finally said. "You talked about you protecting your brother, and you're family protecting your brother, and how you're going to get revenge. Who has ever protected you?"

"What?" Kagome asked, unprepared for his sudden question.

"Well, I guess since you're my slave, I'll have to protect you. And I WILL protect you, despite what that stupid hanyou said." He insisted as he stood up.

"What did she say?" Kagome asked curiously, also getting to her feet.

"Nothing."

"Not that again." She sighed, but couldn't get rid of that warm feeling in her heart. She liked having Inuyasha by her. She liked his attempts to make her feel better. She liked his occasional childish behavior. But what did that all mean? 

*******

This chapter was WAAAYYYY over do!! I am super sorry!! Anyway, what did you think? I hope you enjoyed it ^_^ Thanks for all those that reviewed. Also, a little correction in direction I need to make. Inuyasha and Kagome were heading SOUTH not NORTH. So Kagome's village is in the south, not north ^_^ I know, that's a little thing, but it bugged me once I caught it.

p.s I tried to put more contractions in ^_^! Thanks for pointing that out, Katra Winner--I speak using little contractions, so I write that way to *looks sheepish*

Review please!


	9. First Impressions

Disclaimer: I'm not the owner of Inuyasha.

Inuyasha and Kagome emerged from the wandering tunnels. Kagome sighed, happy to be in the fresh warmth of the sun once again. Of course now she now had no idea where she was, and recalled that Miroku and Sango were still waiting for them at the OTHER end of the cave. "Um…Inuyasha…where are we?" She asked.

"How am I suppose to know?" He replied.

"You have the nose. I thought maybe you could smell and figure out where the other two people are." She pointed out. He sniffed gingerly, following her suggestion for once. 

"We could be anywhere." He snorted. 'Another way for saying that he can't smell anything familiar.' She repressed a grin and looked around…and saw herself facing the bottom of a plateau, the cave barely noticeable in the rocky surface. She looked up at the sheer height of it, not believing how she could miss it…sure the sun was a distraction, but…

"Obviously we are nowhere near where we were last time." She said finally. Inuyasha didn't seem as impressed by the landscape; in fact, he kept looking in the opposite direction.

"Hey, civilization's that way." He said. 

"Then lets go there and found out where we are." Kagome cried. "Maybe we can meet Sango and Miroku there…"

"Feh, those people are so slow it'll take them forever to get anywhere." He laughed.

"You know, we could be in the wrong direction then where we are suppose to be. In fact, they could be days closer than us to getting the Shikon." Kagome pointed out. 

"…" He seemed a little disquieted by that thought. "Well, I'll still get it first! And then they'll tell us where the next piece is!"

"That is if we find them!" Kagome exclaimed, then stopped as a lingering thought began to bug her. Yes, they had agreed to work with those two, but… "Inuyasha, what are you going to do once the shard is complete?" She asked suddenly.

" I'll use it to become a full youkai." He began to walk towards 'civilization,' Kagome following close behind.

"But Sango wants it to be destroyed."

"Eh…I'll just take it and use it!" He cried.

"That's not fair! Not after everything Sango has gone through to get the shards she has!" Kagome yelled back.

"It is too! She is just some stupid human."

"I'm a human too!" Kagome cried, again getting annoyed. "Are you saying that I'm stupid?!" 

"Of course." He laughed, but stopped at the mixture of sadness and anger in Kagome's eyes. 'Hmph, I thought he was going to be nicer to me now.' She thought, and sighed before running ahead. "Hey, Kagome…" She heard Inuyasha say. She started to turn around but a strange feeling began to tug at her…very softly, but it was there…Suddenly, she felt something wrap around her ankle.

"What--" Kagome shrieked as whatever had her pulled sharply, knocking her to the earth. She heard Inuyasha yell in surprise but by that time she was being dragged across the ground at an alarming speed. "Inuyasha!" She cried, almost looking back to see if he was there, but with the stinging bites of tree branches whipping past her, she instead held her arms up in a defensive stance, blocking the trees with the best of her ability. Everything around her was a blur and even when she stopped moving it took her eyes a moment to register the fact that she was still. 

She looked wearily around, and saw a tree root was the thing that had her ankle. She reached down to pull her self free, when she heard a loud voice call to her.

"Who dares to pass on Maja's land!?" Kagome looked up, seeing strange looking men glaring down at her. They both had a humanoid appearance…but were different enough so that she couldn't quite call them humans. Their skin was darkly tanned with a tree-like texture, and they had green hair flying wildly about them. They didn't look overly strong, but had a graceful appearance that made up for it. 'Maja's?' She thought quickly. 'Weren't those the people we needed to see?'

"I came to find the Majas." She told them, but she only saw their glares intensify.

"We do not allow strangers." One hissed. "Human scum."

"Wait a minute! I'm no 'human scum!'" Kagome told him, standing to her feet. The root was still around her ankle, but it didn't seem to be restricting her movements.

"That's all humans are. They're easily corrupted and best dead." The other said lowly. Kagome felt herself get very angry. She hadn't even talked to these guys for one minute and here they were insulting her very species.

"You don't even know me! How dare you make such accusations!?" She cried, placing her hands on her hips and giving her most annoyed scowl at them. "You guys are such idiots! If you didn't want trespassers, why aren't there any signs that say 'No Trespassing' or 'Beware, obnoxious people who will insult you ahead,' something like that! People or Maja's shouldn't be so judgmental! You don't see me telling you that your entire race ought to die, do you!?" They gave her this look that easily read 'that's because our race is superior to yours.' 

"The penalty for trespassing is death." One said, his mouth broadening into a malicious sneer.

"Wh-what?" The Maja's looked serious.

"One more human gone will better help the world." She started to back up as one pulled out his bow and aimed an arrow for her chest, but the root that had been wrapped around her foot stopped her from going anywhere. 'Why do I always end up in these situations!?' She couldn't help but close her eyes as she heard the hollow twang of an arrow being let loose. 'Inuyasha!' She thought to herself. 'I need you…' She peeked open one eye when she realized the shot never stuck home. "Inuyasha!" She cried, sure that he must have come to her rescue. She quickly discovered her mistake. It was another Maja, though this one didn't seem set on killing her. In fact he was…saving her?

The Maja held the arrow with two fingers and delicately snapped it with his hands. "What are you doing?"

"What the hell are you doing!?" The other demanded back. "That's a humans and we're killing it! A trespassing one no less."

"Ah, but the rules say to bring trespassers in for questioning, not to kill them on the spot."

"But she's human and all humans are bunch of conniving bastards. Rules don't apply to her kind." The other snapped. Kagome literally bit her tongue to stop from yelling.

"Oh, really?" Her savior looked at Kagome, as though inspecting her. "She doesn't seem like the kind who is planning on killing us. In fact, she doesn't look like the type to kill. Have you ever killed anything, my dear?"

"No." Kagome said firmly, making sure to sound like even the thought of her killing was ridiculous.

"See." He said, turning back to his bloodthirsty companions. "She isn't a killer."

"Damn you." One hissed. "You ought to hate them the most too! Do you even care if Flewnu is revenged!?" Kagome noticed the Maja stiffen at this remark, the life in his face draining away. The one who had spoke realized he had gone too far and hastily backed up. 

"Of course I care. I just don't think we should judge all humans from one." He spoke quietly, his voice barely drawing above a whisper.

"Sorry. I went to far." Kagome wasn't sure what was going on, but whatever it was, the two Majas bowed to the guy that had saved her. 

"I'll take her in. You go and patrol, this time not threatening to kill people." The Maja spoke lightly, but something in his voice sounded…mournful. The two hastily left. He turned to face Kagome. "I apologize for their behavior. We haven't had many visitors in several hundred years, and our last encounter with humans was not a good one."

"That's okay." Kagome said quickly. "Thank you for saving me."

"Aye, those guys probably would have killed you." He said grimly, then smiled charmingly. "So, how has a beautiful human such as yourself manage to get into Maja territory? I thought all the borders were well guarded."

"We went through this cave--"

"We?"

"Yes, Inuyasha and I…oh no! Where is Inuyasha!?" Kagome suddenly realized Inuyasha hadn't been right behind her…in fact he seemed to be no where near her, otherwise he would have rescued her. 'Where are you, Inuyasha?' She asked herself worriedly. 

"Who is Inuyasha? Another human?" The Maja asked curiously.

"Well, he's a hanyou." Kagome told him.

"Ah." He looked at her and nodded. "A mixed breed."

"He's not just a mixed breed!" Kagome yelled at him. He blinked.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that as an insult. It's just that mixed species are rare in Maja. We have stuck with our own kind for hundreds of years, so never had that chance for that sort of interbreeding." He told her. "I'm guessing he is a kind person."

"Hmm?" Kagome looked at the Maja. "Well…I wouldn't put it in those exact terms..." 

"Then he is mean?" He asked her.

"No…he just tries to appear tougher than he actually is. He's very nice, once you get to know him." Kagome said in Inuyasha's defense.

"Hmm." The Maja looked thoughtful. "I see that you know him very well, for it seems to me you see him as a nice person."

"Eh?" Kagome felt herself blushing and mentally slapped herself. 

"Sorry, sorry. We ought to be focusing on finding him." He closed his eyes. "I have sent the trees to look for him. They'll direct him here." He said after a moment.

"Trees?"

"Aye." He said, smiling. "Us Maja's are connected with the trees. We were once a frail race, hardly living more that a five years before we wilted and died. Then we discovered a way to assimilate with the trees. They are at our beck and call, just as we are at theirs. If they die, we die…if we die…they…die…" He said. His eyes had a faraway look, giving the impression he was remembering something that had happened long ago. Kagome was about to ask what was wrong when he suddenly placed back on his charming expression. "They will find your Inuyasha."

"Thank you." Kagome said after a moment. "Hey, what's your name?" She asked, tired of thinking him as 'the Maja that saved her life.'

"Oh my, I've forgot my manners. I'm Yanto." He bowed to her. "And may I ask your name, young lady?" 

"Um…its Kagome." She was a bit surprised by his politeness.

"What a lovely name!" He complimented and took her hand with his, bringing up to his lips. "Nice to have met you, Kagome." 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Just before Kagome was dragged off

"Hey, Kagome…" 'Am I going to apologize?' Inuyasha wondered, gulping. 'I'm not scared to. Sorry is just one word.' Kagome started to turn towards him, when she suddenly fell to the ground and was dragged into the forest. It happened so suddenly, it took Inuyasha a moment to realize what had happened. 

"Kagome!" He yelled, springing after her. He leaped through the trees, easily gaining ground, but then the trees themselves began to attack him. This just confused Inuyasha. 

"Damn you! Trees aren't suppose to attack, so stop moving!" He barked. But there they were, their branches flailing at him whenever he touched one, roots wrapping around his leg to stop him from moving. While he struggled to free himself, Kagome had vanished. "See what you're making me do!" He yelled and bared out his claws. "Do you want me to rip you in shreds?" He demanded irritably. 'Now look, I'm talking to stupid trees.' He sighed. 'Oh well. If trees can move then maybe they can understand too.' The trees actually seemed to back away from him. He smirked and walked forward, unmolested…only now he was lost. 

He sniffed the air. He could smell trees and the faint scents of civilization, but no Kagome. 'The trees.' He realized. 'They're overpowering her smell with their own! Damn them!' He glared angrily around and began to stomp in the direction that he last saw Kagome go. 

'You'll never be able to fully protect her.' The hanyou's words echoed inside his mind. He shook head angrily. 'Why'd that hanyou have to say stupid stuff like that?' He demanded, but fear still began to over take him and he found himself sprinting blindly through the forest as he imagined Kagome hurt or kidnapped or…dead. 'Why does she mean so much to me?' He asked himself quietly. 

"Go that way…go that way…" Inuyasha spun backwards as he began to hear strange words around him. The trees were oddly bent, as though pointing in a certain direction. "That way…that way…" The wind whispered. Inuyasha paused, then ran in the direction specified. He had no idea where he was going, so maybe these weird trees did.

He broke through a clearing, finally catching Kagome's sweet scent. Then he saw her…with some strange guy lifting her hand towards his lips. He was shocked and just stood there for a moment before sprinting forward, knocking the guy away from Kagome. He stood protectively in front of her and growled at the strange looking creature. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" The creature looked a bit surprised, and, much to Inuyasha's annoyance, the bastard only smiled at him, not even phased by Inuyasha's words or glare.

Miroku and Sango decided to keep going in the direction of the Maja village, mutually agreeing that more than likely their two new companions would be doing the same. Sango suddenly veered from their standard direction. "The Maja's are located in a place surrounded by many natural barriers." She explained. "There is a mountain if you try to enter them the east or the north, and a plateau if you try to enter them directly from the west. The only clear way is from the south."

"And that way is heavily guarded, I suppose." Miroku smiled. 

"Yes. They like their privacy."

"Will they let us in?" He asked. Sango stopped, looking unsure.

"They may…but I have heard that they despise humans. If we tell them of our mission though, then maybe…" Sango placed on a determined face. "If not, then we'll find a back way in and make them understand." 

"I'll be there by your side." Miroku said calmly, stepping nearer to her. Sango couldn't stop the blush that appeared on her face and hoped that monk wouldn't notice.

"You can't get Naraku unless you have some sort of lure, so you have to stay with me." She said finally. Miroku laughed.

"That's true, but I'd probably go with you even if I didn't have this curse." Sango smiled, then felt something touch her butt. Her expression changed to shock and she promptly slapped him across the face as she stomped ahead. 'Damn that Miroku! He says the nicest things, then follows it with…with…that!!'

Kagome quickly gripped Inuyasha's arm to stop him from attacking the Maja. "You must be Inuyasha. I am Yanto, a Maja." Yanto said easily.   


"Feh." Inuyasha snorted. "What the hell were you doing with Kagome?" The Maja studied him.

"You really are of two species." He said after a moment. "I have never seen anyone like you."

"What!" Inuyasha yelled. Yanto smiled.

"I will be directing you to the city, where you two will be questioned on why you are here. I'll be sure you both are treated with the utmost respect, since most of my kind will probably kill you when realizing you are both human, or at least part human." 

"We aren't going with you anywhere!" 

"Inuyasha, Yanto saved my life from other's of his kind." Kagome told him. Inuyasha paused, not looking quite so irritated.

"You did?"

"Yes." The Maja said.

Inuyasha turned to face Kagome. "So, you're all right then?" She nodded, feeling a little pleased that he seemed a worried about her. He sighed, hopefully from relief. "You were dragged away so suddenly, too." He said, sounding a bit annoyed. "I was just about to apologize, and you had to miss it."

"What?" Kagome said, startled. She recalled their brief fight. 'He was going to apologize? He has never said sorry before.' Inuyasha looked embarrassed.

"I mean…damn!" He swore. "I didn't want to tell you that!" 

The Maja, who had been quietly staying out of their conversation looked between the two and broke in. "Kagome, you must know him very well." He said thoughtfully. "You two appear to be soul bound." Inuyasha and Kagome both looked at the Maja.

"Um…soul bound?" Kagome asked. 'The shard is made of the sorceresses soul, so maybe that is what he is talking about...' The Maja looked surprised she didn't know.

"When two souls are foretold to be one?" They both looked blank, though Kagome was having a feeling it was not about the Shikon shard. "Oh, how do other outsiders call it…" The Maja closed his eyes as he thought. "Hmm…mates? Married? It think that is the term used by other species."

"Wh-wh-what!" Kagome stuttered. "You think Inuyasha and I are--we haven't even dated or kissed or--" Her heart beat wildly in her chest and she knew her face must be several shades of red.

"Why the hell would I mate to my own slave?" Inuyasha demanded, though Kagome was happy to notice he was flustered as well.

"Oh, I appear to be mistaken. I guess that means lovely Kagome is free for the taken." 

"What!" Inuyasha cried.

Yanto smiled, as though pleased by the reaction he got. He then narrowed his eyes as he contemplated. "Slave means one owned by another with your kind, correct?" 

"Yah." Inuyasha growled, obviously not liking this Maja's words.

"Kagome, would you like to be rescued?" Yanto asked.

"That's okay. Inuyasha isn't really my owner; he only likes to think that." Kagome told him.

"Hey, you are mine!" Inuyasha yelled.

"I'm no ones!"

"What was it about you saying that you didn't mind being my slave?" He demanded.

"Oh, I don't mind." Kagome said. "But is that all you think of me as?"

"What?"

"Do you only think of me as a slave?"

"…Eh…" Inuyasha looked startled by her question. "Yes…no…" He said, turning around so she couldn't see his face.

"Which one?" She demanded.

"I'm sorry to break this up, but I really must take you with me." Yanto said suddenly. "Lets go." Kagome looked at Inuyasha, who was still facing the other direction.

"Fine then." She walked ahead, following Yanto. 'Fine then.' 

Kagome was amazed by the sheer beauty of the Maja city. It was made entirely by bricks and stones, not a single piece of wood lying around. 'That's understandable, since they seem to be connected with trees.' She thought to herself. "Welcome to my home." Yanto said, his arm circling to include the entire area. "As I said, you will be treated well during your stay--I'll make sure of that--but it would probably be best for you to leave quickly." Kagome nodded.

"Your city is beautiful." She told him.

"Aye. This is my favorite view of it. Flewna and I would sit here for hours--" He suddenly stopped, his eyes clouding over. 

"Are you okay?" Kagome asked worriedly.

"It's nothing, lovely Kagome." He said softly. "I'll take you to my mansion. You both will be safe there. I can question you myself, since the guards will not dare challenge my word." He laughed slightly. 'Flewna…' Kagome thought to herself. 'The Majas I first met mentioned her…who is she?' She didn't ask, sensing that her name brought only grief her Maja friend.

"You say we're going, but you're just standing there, moron. Lead us in." Inuyasha snapped at Yanto. 'I don't think Inuyasha likes him very much.' Kagome thought as she smiled slightly, but at the same time wished Inuyasha would show some sympathy.

"Oh yes, sorry." Yanto continued to walk, but stopped before leaving the forest. "Keep close to me and try to look helpless." He whispered. 

"Why?" Kagome asked.

  
"The other Maja's won't be so happy I'm bringing you in. They'll probably have similar wishes as the Maja's you met earlier." Kagome nodded and they continued forward. She tried to look a like someone who couldn't hurt anything, but, for Inuyasha, it was harder. He just glared around, as though daring for somebody to challenge him. 

Yanto was right about the other Majas not liking humans. As she entered the city, she could feel the entire atmosphere shift into hostility and the stares around her burned into the back of her neck. A heavyset Maja barred their path.

"Yanto." He said though gritted teeth. "You have a full human with you."

"Aye, that I do." Yanto said easily. "I'm taking them both in for questioning."

"You can take in the half-human, but leave the wench to us." He said dangerously.

"I'm taking them both." Yanto repeated.

"It was one of her kind that killed almost all of us! They deserve to pay! Human's greed led us to the dark times and human's will bring it again if we aren't careful." The Maja hissed.

"Step aside." Yanto said, his voice held tight with command. The Maja reluctantly backed away. Kagome sighed in relief. She hadn't been sure what was going to happen. 

Her moment of relaxation vanished as she felt the presence of a shard…no…it was too strong to be a shard. The feeling was so overwhelming…it was so near…Kagome looked around, realizing they were passing a huge temple. 'It's in there.' She said to herself. Kagome found herself compelled to stop and had a sudden desire to rush in and take the Shikon shard…the Wisdom…her heart tingled at the thought of it being so near…

Kagome blinked as a stick fell inches within her feet, and winced as a pebble caught the temple of her head. She looked around, only half focused at the crowd. The Maja's, seeing that she had fallen behind and was out of the protection of Yanto, had come closer to her, their leering faces full of hate and anger. "Kill the human!" She heard some yell. "Kill them like he killed us!" She shuddered as objects came at her from all sides…the crowd blocking Yanto and Inuyasha from helping her…but still, she was finding hard to think…the Shikon…it was so near…Fear for her life, though, made her try to come up with a plan.

"Inuyasha!" She cried, hoping he would come to her rescue. 'I can't get out!' She realized. 'They are all around me…I'm afraid if I get too near, they'll rip me apart!' She quivered, her heart feeling a strange, throbbing pain…she shut her eyes tightly and screamed, "I'm not a killer! I haven't hurt you or anyone else!" The feeling she had been holding only intensified and she felt her consciousness cloud over. Dizziness took her and she was falling…only to be caught before she struck the ground. "Inuyasha?" She whispered, the intense throbbing power of the Shikon fading, instead being replaced by a different feeling…a warm feeling…

"Kagome?" She heard someone…Inuyasha…say, but she found it hard to concentrate, finally letting herself drift to the entrancing world of darkness.

Inuyasha was watching the crowd so intensely, he didn't even notice that Kagome had fallen behind. Suddenly, he heard her scream his name and spun around, seeing the Maja's barring the way back. 'Kagome…she's in there!' He realized, looking at the crowd of people. Yanto had turned around as well, his face also looking full of worry. "Let me through!" He demanded.

"Nay, friend." The same Maja from before smiled grimly. "Let the crowd have there fun. Human's haven't come here in such a long time…" Yanto's looked threateningly at the Maja, the Maja stepping back out of fear of his harsh gaze.

"I said to let me through." Yanto said softly. "That human is no killer." Inuyasha didn't really listen to either of them--he was more worried on how he was going to get to Kagome. When he heard her shout out again, he growled angrily under his breath and leapt over the Majas to where Kagome stood, blocking any further attacks on her.

"If you don't stop, I'll kill you!" He yelled. The crowd took a step back. Inuyasha smirked…then realized they weren't falling back because of him. He looked at Kagome, who didn't appear to see him. Her eyes were closed tightly and she was trembling, whether in fear or in shock. Inuyasha hardly noticed this, instead concentrating on the strange power emulating from her. A blue glow pulsed through her, echoing out around her in a haunting sort of way. It wasn't hurting anyone…but the possibilities…Inuyasha took an unwilling step back. He saw Kagome sway on her feet and begin to fall. 

He ran forward, forgetting the strange power he sensed and scooped her up in his arms. She shivered next to him. "Inuyasha?" She whispered.

"Kagome." He said softly, and felt her loose consciousness. He picked her up, ignoring the strange looks he received from the still stunned Majas, and walked up to Yanto, who had been staring at the entire procession in awe. "Where's that mansion of yours?" Inuyasha demanded.

"A-aye." Yanto said quickly. "Follow me." The Maja lead him forward, the crowd breaking apart to let them through. 'No one tries to stop us now.' Inuyasha thought grimly. 'After Kagome got hurt…but what was that? The power…was that the power of a Miko? It has to be…' He looked at the girl in his arms and finally decided something. 'I need to become a better protector, otherwise that stupid hanyou's going to prove herself right.' 

*******

I hoped you liked it ^_^ This kind of went differently then I had in mind…what do you think? Feedback is greatly appreciated!!! The more I get, the more obligated I feel to write ^_~

Anyway, thank you for all those that did review! 


	10. Update

Not the next chapter—just updating you all!

I am letting everyone know that I am sorry about the delay!  I am still writing on the story—I have just been rather busy and haven't had much time to sit at the computer.  Just a few weeks ago, I found out that my family was moving, and moving for my family is pretty stressful and time-consuming.  I should get out the next chapter in just a few days, but for a while, it'll be hard to write on 'Awakening Power' on a continuous fashion until everything gets settled.  I am really, really sorry!  This is just so that you know that I haven't just intentionally decided to not post chapters up or something ^_^

Anyway, no one needs to review this unless you want to.  I will be getting up the next chapter up shortly!!!!!  Thanks!!


	11. The Maja's and the Wisdom

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha!!

Kagome woke up in an unfamiliar room. 'Where am I?' She thought to herself, sitting up. Kagome thought carefully, remembering that she had walked into the Maja city, felt strange, and then fell. 'I must have fainted.' She realized. 'Inuyasha probably is thinking what a weak slave I am, fainting in the middle of the street like that. And I wasn't even that hurt either.' She looked at her arms carefully and moved her muscles slowly, glad to see that she was correct. She could feel some bruises that had formed where a Maja got lucky and hit her, but nothing life threatening. 

She looked around the dimly lit room, a bit surprised to see Inuyasha lying on the floor next to her bed. Right beyond him was the door. 'I don't want to wake him…so I'll just step over him and look outside. Maybe Yanto is out there.' She thought after a moment. 'I wonder…did Inuyasha stay here to protect me while I slept or because we were forced to be in a place where the Majas could keep an eye on us?' She shrugged and proceeded to climb out of her bed. She got one leg past Inuyasha and started to leap the rest of the way across…but just as she jumped, her other foot got entangled in the covers and she stumbled, falling forward. 

Her hands landed on either side of Inuyasha's face, as she struggled not to land on top of him. 'This isn't working right.' She thought to herself, pulling at the foot entangled in the covers. It only made her more unbalanced. 'I don't want to wake him up…how do I keep getting in these messes?' She sighed and blushed a bit when she realized how close she was to Inuyasha at this moment. Her face was only a foot away from his own…'If he wakes up, he is going to get the wrong idea.' Kagome sighed again. As though that was a signal for Inuyasha, his eyes snapped open and he looked at her, instantly becoming wide awake.

"H-he-hey!" He stuttered, sitting up a bit so that their faces were within inches of each other. Kagome noticed that his golden eyes were a little bit wider than normal, probably from surprise. 'He is so close…' Kagome couldn't help think to her self. Her heart pounded in her chest and she struggled to speak calmly.

"Inuyasha, could you help me? I'm stuck." 'See, that wasn't so hard.' She told herself.

"What?" He blinked and looked at her foot that was still trapped inside the covers.

"I fell when I tried to get out of bed." She explained after a moment. "If you hadn't of decided to get so close to the bed, then none of this would have happened." 

"Keh." He snapped and quickly freed her foot.

"Thanks." Kagome stood up and tried to hide the faint blush still on her face. "Hey, how long was I out?" She quickly asked, trying to make up for her embarrassment.

"Only a few hours."

"Good." Kagome replied. "Where's Yanto?" Inuyasha looked at her suspiciously.

"Why do you want to know?" 

"Because he is the only Maja I don't think will kill me." She told him.

"That tree-boy isn't anything to think about." Inuyasha muttered.

"I didn't say I was thinking about him." Kagome said evenly. "Why were you by my bed anyway?" She asked, switching topics once again.

"Um…well I wanted to make sure you weren't attacked again." He said grumpily.

"Did you stay there the entire time?" Kagome felt herself brighten. 

"Well...I-uh…" He looked embarrassed and backed off towards the door, like he was going to run out. "It's none of your business." He said finally. Kagome saw the door behind him crack open, and then saw it swing widely as a person entered the room. The door hit Inuyasha firmly in the face.

"Lady Kagome!" Yanto cried, dashing to her. "Oh, Inuyasha, I'm sorry. I didn't see you by the door." He said, sounding very sincere. "I must thank you for watching over this lovely human while I took care of my business."

"Yanto." Kagome said after a moment, realizing instantly who he was. He turned to her, his blue eyes filled with worry.

"Kagome, I must apologize." He said and bowed low to her. "I promised you that you'd get to my mansion safely, but you were injured along the way. I take full responsibility for whatever happened." 

"Hey, she's my slave and I'm the one that was suppose to protect her." Inuyasha growled and stepped forward, one hand rubbing the small bruise on his head. 

"Of course." Yanto bowed to him as well, then looked at her once again. "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine." Kagome reassured him. "I wasn't too hurt by the crowd. I must have had a weak spell from the poison I had earlier, so I fainted. It's really embarrassing." She said, smiling. "It's not your fault." The two of them looked at her strangely, and for some reason she had the feeling they didn't quite believe her, even though she was telling them the truth.

"Do you remember what happened right before you fainted?" Yanto asked her.

"I just remember the crowd…and the feeling that the Wisdom was in the temple." Kagome told him after a moment.

"Hmm, you know about the Shikon then?" 

"That's the reason we came here." Kagome admitted. 'Would this be a good time to ask for the Shikon?' She wondered, but Yanto's expression turned strangely sad and she decided against it.

"Bad things only happen while around the Shikon." Yanto said softly, his eyes growing dim.

"Will you stop this sad crap?" Inuyasha demanded. "Kagome's all right now, and that's all that matters."

"Inuyasha…" Kagome said, smiling, for some reason pleased that he cared that she was okay. 

"What?" He asked, then backed away. "I mean…I need you to see the Shikon shards. How can you if you're hurt?" Kagome frowned and turned away so he wouldn't see her unhappiness. 'He cares for me or he cares for the shard? Which is more important to him?' She thought bitterly. 'I don't want to ask though. What if he says the Shikon?' Feelings twisted inside of her.

"Very interesting." Yanto said thoughtfully, breaking her from her thoughts. "Kagome, I want to talk more about the reason's why you came here, but you need your rest."

"I can tell you just fine why we're here." Inuyasha growled. "You don't need Kagome."

"I have a feeling though that you'll tell me about it in such a way that I will be forced to imprison you." Yanto said lightly.   
  
"What!" Inuyasha cried. "Is that an insult, tree-boy?"

"Nay. It's just an observation." He bowed to Kagome. "I hope to speak to you more, lovely human, but I must explain to the servants about your situation, otherwise I fear that they will come in here with knifes and try to slit your throat."

"I'll protect her from that." Inuyasha told him.

"So, you'll be staying here with Kagome then?" Yanto asked, smiling as he started to leave, pausing beside Inuyasha to whisper something, but it was too low for her to hear properly.

"Hey-what…" Inuyasha stuttered, reacting both confused and embarrassed by whatever Yanto had said.

  
"Kagome, there is a bath in the other room, along with a change of clothes." Yanto turned to her, smiling brightly. "Be sure to rest, for we must talk later about the Shikon." Kagome nodded, reminding herself mentally to ask Inuyasha what had been said. "Shall we dine together this evening?"

"Okay." Kagome nodded.

"That's great. I'll count the hours till we see each other again." The Maja quickly scooped up her hand, placed a light kiss on it, and then left the room. Inuyasha didn't even have time to react.

"What the hell is his problem?" Inuyasha cried. "'I'll count the hours'--what was that all about!?"

"It's called politeness." Kagome sniffed, but smiled. "Are you jealous, Inuyasha?"

"Wh-what!!!?" He cried. "Of course not!" He crossed his arms and his eyes suddenly found the wall off to the side very interesting. 

"Well, you didn't have to be so rude about it." She muttered and stomped towards the door Yanto had pointed to.

"Where are you going?" Inuyasha asked.

"I'm taking a bath." She said firmly. "And don't you dare think of peeping on me!"

"What kind of person do you think I am!?" He demanded. "I'm no Miroku!" 

"Just stay there." 

"Keh."

Kagome opened the door to the bathroom and paused. That reminded her that she had no idea where Miroku and Sango were. 'They may have given up on waiting for us and could be on their way here.' She thought. 'I hope the Maja's don't give them as much trouble as they did for us.'

__

Inuyasha sighed as the door slammed shut and thought to what that tree told him just before he left. _"Don't wait too long to tell her of your feelings."_

'Why the hell did that tree guy have to go and say something like that? What is it suppose to mean? Its almost as weird as the old hanyou telling me that I'd never be able to protect Kagome.' Inuyasha thought to himself. 'Feelings? The hanyou told me that I liked Kagome. Maybe I like her--as a Shikon detector and a slave--but nothing more! I only L-I-K-E her…right?' Then why did he feel as though he was lying to himself? 

__

"Do you only think of me as a slave?" Kagome had asked this, and for some reason, the answer he was so sure of didn't seem so sure any more. 

'I have to only think of her as a slave.' He thought. 'What else would I think of her as?' But even that thought sounded hollow in his head. 'Now that I found out she can see the shards, I need her to help me find them. And I promised that I'd help her get revenge against that Naraku guy, so I'm stuck with her.' He blinked. 'Why the hell am I thinking of her anyway!?'

A loud knock on the door startled him from his thoughts. Careful to stay on guard, he approached the door cautiously and opened it up, half-expecting to either see that annoying Yanto 'who I am not jealous of,' or an entire gang of Maja's here to take Kagome's life. Instead, there was only a single, petite Maja, eyes tightly shut, with one hand still knocking on the door--which was no longer there.

"Why are you hitting me on the head!?" Inuyasha demanded as he grabbed her arm, careful not to scratch her with his claws.

"Hmm?" The girl looked up at him, tossing her green hair back behind her shoulder, her eyes brightening. "Wow! A real hanyou! I have never seen one before! Well, then again, I haven't seen much before, but people were always telling stories about how awful humans were and you are half-human right? But you don't look awful. They say that humans brought the dark times, but I wasn't born then, so Yanto says its hard for me to be prejudice, so I guess maybe that why I find you so interesting."

"Um…what?" Inuyasha just stood there a bit dazed by the girl's ramblings.

"I am Konki. Who are you?" The girl bowed to him lowly. 

"Why should I tell--"

"Wait, don't answer that. You're Inuyasha, right? And the full human is Kagome? He says that Kagome is a sweet girl and you're a bit brash, but also kind in your own ways, just as long as you look past the words. He also says that you're in lo--whoops, I'm not suppose to say anything, because you're suppose to figure it out on your own, but he's behind you one-hundred percent and--" 'Does this girl ever breath?' Inuyasha wondered. '…will help you out if you can. Oh, I just love your ears! Can I touch them? See, my ears are all branch like and stick out to the sides, but yours are on your head and are so white and cute looking--"

"NO and shut up!!" Inuyasha finally yelled. The girl blinked in surprise, then sighed.

"Was I talking too much? The other Maja's say I talk too much when I get excited about something, and I have been feeling that way ever since I got my sight back last week and now I get to see a true human crossbreed! We Maja's don't breed with other species. Only with other Maja's, even though I think it is wonderful for that diversity, since then you get all kinds of uniqueness, like yourself."

"Whatever." Inuyasha muttered to the tree-girl. "Hey," a sudden thought hit him. "You wouldn't by chance be Yanto's mate or betrothed or that soul bound stuff he was talking about, would you?" He couldn't help but sound hopeful. If Yanto already had someone, then he couldn't take away Kagome--'Wait, what am I thinking?' He snapped to himself. 

Her strange eyes lost a bit of their momentary luster. "Nay, he is not." She said quietly. "Nor will he ever be. Not that it really matters are anything." She laughed. "I mean, he thinks of me as a sister and I think someone else has already captured his heart."

"Who?" Demanded Inuyasha. 'It's not Kagome--it can't be Kagome!'

"Who? Oh, its--" The girl placed one hand over her mouth. "I'm not suppose to say."

"Why not!?" Inuyasha screeched. 'Don't be Kagome, just don't let it be Kagome.' 

"Because he tries to keep it a secret even though it is pretty obvious." The girl informed him. 'Damn, that guy is so sappy and sweet around Kagome! That's pretty obvious!' He thought, for some reason a trickle of fear latching on to him. 

"Tell me who it is right now--" He growled, but the girl suddenly pushed passed him and ran into the room. "Hey, wait!"

"You must be Kagome!!!" She cried. Kagome, who was dressed in strange, green cloths similar to what the girl had on, simply stood still, not really knowing how to react. "Wow! You both have such pale skin!" The girl circled Kagome, staring in awe. "And you're hair is such a pretty midnight color! His is white!" She sighed in bliss. 

"Inuyasha, who is this?" Mouthed Kagome as the girl continued to talk. He shrugged, though was seething to know that Yanto was telling others how beautiful Kagome was. 'Sure, she is pretty, but--hey no! Stop thinking! I'm not allowed to think!' He told himself. "Who are you?" Kagome asked. "I'm guessing you don't hate me too much." The girl paused and bowed to Kagome.

"Sorry, sorry! I am Konki. I'm so glad to meet you! No, I don't hate you at all! I think everyone else does, except for Yanto of course, and Flewna--well, she doesn't count, but not me! I was born after the evil man had done his damage, so never got an underlying hatred that got spurred on by the Wisdom." The girl said, her words sounding as though someone had told them to her over and over. "Other Maja's try to make me see their ways, but, it was hard when I couldn't see the damage and have been around Yanto enough to learn his point of view over all the matters, which is quite interesting since other Maja's believe he should be the most angry since the second attack was directed only to those who worked with the Shikon."

  
"Couldn't see?" Kagome asked curiously. The girl's eyes widened. Inuyasha hadn't been paying too much attention before, but noticed the Maja's eyes were unnaturally pale in color. He sensed a faint, ominous presence from somewhere, but it was quickly replace by the girl's unnerving energy.

"Yes! Just last week, I tripped near the plateau and when I woke up, I could see! Its all thanks to the bump I got in my head! That's good for my tree too, since while I couldn't see, it wasn't able to get as many leaves to reach the sun for some reason. Also, I can help Yanto more than I could before, especially in the temple." The girl said cheerfully. "Don't you both like Yanto? He's so hard working and is always doing what is right! He claims it is because of his duty, but I know he is simply a wonderful Maja." The girl sighed. 'I hate his guts.' Inuyasha thought angrily.

"Yes, he is a caring Maja." Kagome told her. 

"What!?" Inuyasha cried. Kagome looked at him curiously. "I mean--nothing. What about me?"

"Your asking me if I think you're caring, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked him pointedly.

"Oh, don't be so hard on him, Lady Kagome! I'm sure that inside he is the most sweetest and caring hanyou in the world." The girl piped in. 'She's sticking up for me?' Inuyasha thought to himself, but decided not to question. 

"See, even she can tell that about me." Inuyasha smirked. "So, why don't you admit it?" He wasn't sure about being called 'sweet' and 'caring', but if that put him higher that Yanto, he could stand it for awhile.

"Maybe you should first answer a question." Kagome said softly. "Do you think of me as only a slave and Shikon detector?" 'Not that again!' He thought to himself. 'And she added to it too!' 

"Keh." He muttered.

"Oh, this is too sweet to watch! I hope that when I get soul bound to someone, we'll be able to have friendly squabbles just like this!" The Maja sighed in happiness.

"WHAT!" They both yelled.

"First off, we aren't soul bound!" Kagome said firmly.

"And this is no friendly squabble, brat!" Inuyasha cried, 'Damn, I'm blushing again!'

"Oh, that is what Yanto told me." The girl said thoughtfully. "Sorry, I was getting ahead of myself." She said sincerely. "I hope you will forgive me--but actually, I must be going! I remember that Yanto told me that Kagome needs her rest and he'll escort her and Inuyasha to the dining hall later. The Maja servants will be even more suspicious if you walk around on your own, so please stay in here--Yanto is trying his hardest to make sure that there is an exception for humans staying here for awhile without being imprisoned. I'm sure it'll be just great since he is so influential and everything. The adjoining room is the sitting room that you can wait in if you are not tired and dinner should be ready in about an hour. I need to go attend to my duties now and it is wonderful to have met you both! My, I hope that everything is straitened out soon!" She danced out of the room and shut the door behind her, leaving a strange silence behind her.

"She certainly has energy." Kagome mentioned.

"Sure does." He muttered.

"It is so strange how everyone thinks that we have a relationship or something." Kagome laughed softly. 'Strange? Is it really strange? Not that I want to know or anything.' Inuyasha thought to himself, feeling oddly down.

"Heh, heh, those guys are blind to think we are actually mates are something." Inuyasha laughed with her, though his laugher sounded weak to his own ears. "I mean, why would I become mates with my own slave in the first place?"

"So, that is all I'll be to you?" She smiled grimly. "A slave?"

"Keh, I don't feel like answering that right now." He snorted, though felt uncomfortable by her stare. 

"Do you want me to think of you as only my owner?" She asked seriously. "Because I can. If you want, I can do the entire slave routine. I may not be any good at it, but I can do it. Is that what you want?" 'Why does she have to sound so solemn?' He thought to himself.

'No.' That's what he wanted to say. Should say. But…getting close to people was something he tried to avoid. He loved his mother and she died. He had already sworn to protect Kagome. He had promised to help her in her revenge. He needed her to see the shards for him. He was already more deeply tied to her than any other person in the world. He had avoided all of the duties that his brother tried to pressure on his. He didn't ever even want to get a slave. Being alone was safe. But, now there was Kagome. "That's a stupid question." He finally said. 

"Is it?" She demanded, her voice raising slightly. Inuyasha felt strangely comforted by this, since at least she didn't sound so serious when she was mad.

"Of course, moron." He said, his voice rising to match hers.

"And how is it?" 

"Just because it is." 

"That isn't an answer!!" She yelled.

"Well, why do you want to know so much?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"Because, stupid I am in lo--" Suddenly she broke off and turned a strange red color. She seemed to be realizing something that she hadn't even known, and whatever it was, it made her suddenly not able to talk.

"Well?" He asked curiously, though made sure he retained his uncaring look. 

"Because…because…damn I'm such an idiot!!" She shrieked. "This can NOT be happening!!!"

"What is it?" He couldn't help but sound worried. 

"Nothing!! Just leave me alone!!" She yelled. 

"What?" That surprised him even more. 'She wants me to go?' "Why should I listen to you?" He demanded, trying not to let any of the hurt he may be feeling leak out in his voice. 'Did I do something wrong?'

Kagome looked at him with her soft eyes. "I think I need some time to think." She said after a moment, her tone a little milder. "Please?"

"Keh." He muttered, then walked through the door the crazy little Maja had pointed to. 'The sitting room, right?' "Hey, Kagome?" He looked at her. "Do you want to tell me something?" She seemed very confused and, for some reason, he wanted to help her. 

"Maybe." She said. "BUT GO AWAY!" She cried, pointing to the door.

"Now you're the one that's making no sense." He muttered and left, not sure whether to feel hurt or annoyed. 

Kagome sat on her bed and watched as the door shut behind Inuyasha. She felt such a mixture of feelings that she wasn't sure what she should do. All she knew was that she wanted a moment to think. 'What was I going to tell him?' She wondered to herself. 'I was actually going to say that I loved him.' It had happened so suddenly and she wasn't even sure how it was possible for her to fall in love with a hanyou who considered her a slave. 'Is that even allowed?' She wondered to herself. 'Can it really happen? Am I really in love with…him? A guy who bought me from a slave trader? Who still won't tell me whether or not if he considers me a slave? Who considers me a Shikon detector? Him? Damn it!!' 

She started to laugh softly to herself, realizing that the answer to that came to her much easier than expected. "Yes." She whispered. 'Should I tell him?' She shook her head stiffly. 'I can't! He can't possibly feel the same for me so I'd only put him in a difficult situation. I won't tell him how I feel!! I won't!'

'Kagome is annoying. She is annoying. ANNOYING.' Inuyasha thought firmly in his head. 'Making me worry about her just because she needs to go think all by herself. She could tell me what was wrong, then I wouldn't have to wonder! Right, I'll go back in there and ask right now--no I can't. She asked to be alone.' He paced around the room. 'Damn her for making me not know!' 

__

"Because, stupid I am in lo--" 

"Whatever she's thinking, it has to do with those words." He murmured to himself. "'Lo--?' What can that be? Long? Lock? Lot?" None of those made any sense. "_I am in lock_? Nope, doesn't work. Lost? L-Love?" He stopped. Love worked. It fit in perfectly. _'I am in love'_ "Who is she in love with?" He demanded. He suddenly quit walking as it came to him. 'She is in love with Yanto! But--no, she can't be!! She can't be in love with that tree-guy!' He thought frantically. 'Why not?' A little part of him asked himself.

'Because--she just can't be!' He thought after a moment. 'And why not?' He asked himself again. 

"Because…what if she decides to stay here with him? If I don't consider her a slave, that means she has the freedom to stay here, right?" He whispered. 'And, I don't want her to do that…' He thought inwardly. But why? The Shikon? 'Sure I need her to sense the Shikon now. That has to be it!' He said to himself 'Is it?' That thought nagged at him. "Will I just stop thinking!!" He cried. 

__

Kagome's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door. "Has it already been an hour?" She wondered to herself, still feeling a little numb by her recent discovery of the name behind all the feelings she had been having recently. She opened the door and saw Yanto waiting expectantly. "Hello again, Yanto." She told him, smiling.

"Good evening, Lady Kagome." Yanto returned her smile, then looked at her worriedly. "My dear, you look like you're upset over something?"

"It's nothing." Kagome told him quickly. "I'll go get Inuyasha--"

"I'm here. I heard the door knock." Kagome jumped in surprise by the voice behind her.

"Of course you did." She said after a moment. "Then lets go." Yanto looked between the two of them with an unreadable expression. 

"May I escort you, lovely human?" He asked suddenly, offering his arm. Kagome looked at it for a moment, then accepted the invitation. 'Hey, even if I am only a slave Shikon detector to Inuyasha, I know that he has something against Yanto.' She thought to herself. 'I can kind of get even with him by doing this--and then I don't have to face him until later…' 

Inuyasha glared intensely at the back of Yanto's head as the Maja and Kagome walked arm and arm down the hall, he walking just slightly behind. 'That stupid tree.' He thought angrily. 

"Where is Konki?" Kagome asked Yanto pleasantly, making Inuyasha even madder. He noticed that she was intentionally avoiding his eye contact and she also seemed a bit distracted by her own thoughts. 

"Konki? She is at the temple right now." Yanto told her. "I suppose you met? I told her to wait until later, but when I mentioned about both of you, she was so excited over the possibility to see you."

"She has a lot of…energy." Kagome said thoughtfully. "I envy her openness."

"You seem pretty open yourself." Yanto said complimentingly. "I can read both you and Inuyasha very well." 

"What do you mean by that?" Inuyasha demanded, thought he noticed that Kagome was looking very uncomfortable by that comment.

"Nothing, nothing. Just call it the help of the Wisdom." Yanto smiled at both of them. "I like that about both of you. On the surface, you can see one thing, but when you dig deeper, I keep finding more and more surprises." 'What does he mean by that?' Inuyasha wondered.

"What?" He asked angrily, sure that in some way it had to be an insult.

"Oh my, I seem to be digging myself quite the hole." Yanto laughed. "Forget I said anything. I seem to have gotten Inuyasha angry and Kagome fearful that I can read what she is feeling." 'What she is feeling?' 

"Oh, it's okay." Kagome said after a moment. "I'm just still a little bit--faint." That sounded oddly fake.

They reached the dining hall and ate a strange meal consisting mainly of fruits and nuts. Afterwards, Yanto lead them into a small sitting room and insisted on them sitting on the couches and relaxing. 

"Before you start asking about us, can I ask you something?" Kagome suddenly asked.

"Aye, lovely Kagome." Yanto smiled. 

"Why do the Maja's hate the humans so much?" Inuyasha noticed she suddenly bit her lip, as though resisting the urge to ask another question.

Yanto thought carefully, as though organizing his thoughts for the answer. "Lets see…the Maja's use to be a peaceful race who's trust on others was a bit foolish. Being dishonest and breaking rules was against our nature, probably the tree part, so we never thought of others doing that. The sorceress had made the Shikon and had given it to the side of good and somehow it managed to land in our hands. We swore to protect it, but the thought of actually using it never crossed us. We simply believed the world needed balance with good and bad, so using the Shikon against the evil in the world would actually throw us into chaos. Besides, I think none of us would've actually consider taking another's life." Yanto smiled.

"Obviously that rule has changed." Inuyasha muttered.

"Shut up, Inuyasha." Kagome snapped at him. "Please continue." Kagome urged Yanto. 'Feh, all I did was mention that I was still angry that the Maja's tried to hurt her, and she's more interested in listening to Yanto!' He thought angrily to himself.

"My father was the protector of the Shikon at that time and he only allowed a selected few to see the Shikon. Even though we were trustful, we weren't entirely stupid. We knew there was a possibility that it could be stolen so we placed it in a room that could only be accessed by the Shikon's protector. One day, a man named Onigumo arrived to our city. He seemed honest and befriended my father. Onigumo managed to convince him to let him see the Shikon. My father agreed and took him to the room where it was kept, despite the fact that this was highly unusual. Once he and Onigumo entered the room, the human turned around and stabbed my father, instantly killing him. The guards on the other side of the door didn't know what was happening." Yanto's voice grew quieter as he recalled this memory.

"Are you okay?" Kagome suddenly asked, looking at the Maja worriedly. 

"Of course he is." Inuyasha snapped, angry by Kagome's concern. 'Evidence that she does love him?' He thought bitterly.

"Inuyasha." He heard her say threateningly.

"I am fine." Yanto said after a moment and quickly continued. "So, my father died and the Shikon was taken by Onigumo. He used its power to escape from our Maja city. He used our trust to get it." Yanto said calmly. "And then he showered our forests with a rain of fire, killing over a half of the trees, burning them to the ground. He burnt other Maja forests in other regions, but with them he made sure they were completely destroyed. Not our village though. He wanted some of us to remain, to see our mistake. To realize that all the destruction to the land was the result of us." Yanto said bitterly. 

"He killed a bunch of trees?" Inuyasha asked, laughing a bit. "And that's why you're so angry?"

"You forget that when the trees die, we die." Yanto said softly. "He killed millions of us in one day. The remaining Maja's blamed humans for the deaths. After all, it was a human who stole the Shikon, and a human who created the Shikon. But, prejudice like that should have eventually died out." He added. "However, when the Shikon was broken up by the sorceress, we were selected to be in charge of the Wisdom. It came under Flewna's and I's care. I was the protector, and Flewna had enough Miko powers continuously purify the shard, trying to erase from it the blackness Onigumo, or Naraku, placed over it. By that time, Onigumo had used the Shikon to combine itself with hundreds of Youkai to become Naraku."

"So, Naraku was human…" Kagome said thoughtfully.

"Aye." Yanto nodded. "The reason why the Maja's hate humans so much is because of that terrible event. The Wisdom has effected us in a strange way. It has the ability to enlighten people, and since the hatred for humans was so high, it caused most Maja's anger for humans to only grow as they thought of more and more reasons why the humans were the ones to blame. It doesn't have a chance to die out, since the Wisdom has also made it so that we live unnaturally long lives with little chance for reproducing. The youngest Maja is Konki, whose mother died from the hell fire Onigumo brought to us. If fact, the only Maja's that doesn't hate you would have to be Flewna, Konki, and I." He said, smiling slightly. "Since Flewna and I worked so closely with the Shikon, somehow the effects were a little different and made us realize humans in general weren't the cause of so many deaths."

"Where's Flewna?" Inuyasha asked. 'He has mentioned her before, but I haven't seen her.'

"At the temple. She is dying because of Naraku." Yanto said quietly, and by his tone, even Inuyasha didn't want to ask anymore about it. 'Hmph.' He thought to himself. "So, why are you in Maja territory?" Yanto quickly inquired.

"We want that damn piece of rock you keep in your stupid temple." Inuyasha demanded.

"What he means is that we came in search of the Wisdom in hopes of taking it with us." Kagome corrected quickly, giving him a slight glare. 'What did I do wrong?' He thought to himself.

Yanto looked between them for a moment. "You want the Wisdom?" He asked, a bit amazed. "What do you want it for?"

"We're trying to complete it so Inuyasha can become a full demon, and we'll give it to a girl named Sango who is trying to destroy it." Kagome quickly said before Inuyasha could even open his mouth. "Also, there is a guy named Miroku who wants to use it to draw out Naraku and kill him."

"I see." Yanto thought for a moment. "I must say that the possibility of getting rid of the Wisdom never occurred to me."

"I know it is a bit demanding of us…"Kagome started.

"Oh, I am not offended--in fact I'd love it if you can get rid of the Wisdom. It would probably make my society peaceful again." Yanto admitted.

"Really?" Kagome asked.

"Aye, lovely human. If it was gone, then it wouldn't make us live longer and wouldn't influence my people so much." Yanto said thoughtfully. 

"So, we can have it?" Kagome sounded amazed by how easy this was going.

"We can take the stupid rock?" Inuyasha echoed.

"Hmm…kill Naraku?" Yanto suddenly said, as though realizing what this meant. "You'll kill Naraku if you get the Wisdom?" He sounded almost eager by that prospect. 

"Yah. We have to kill him to get revenge for Kagome's village as well." Inuyasha said. Kagome nodded and Yanto looked at her in grief.

"Your home was destroyed by that monster?" He asked softly.

"Yes, but I'm all right now. Inuyasha helped me through it." Kagome said after a moment. 

"That is wonderful." Yanto looked at Inuyasha and smiled. "I'll be happy to give the Shikon to you…but only if you really are a Miko." He told Kagome.

"I think I might be." Kagome said, seeming surprised. "But how did you know?"

"Um…just a hunch." Yanto said lightly. Inuyasha studied Kagome. She really had no idea what happened earlier, but somehow even Yanto had realized Kagome had Miko powers. He stood up. "Feel free to walk around my mansion now. I have gave all the servant a holiday, so they will not bother you." He said. "There are many beautiful views of the surrounding city through windows, but I suggest not to go outside yourselves. I'll be around, but I need to ask the council of Maja's about the idea of getting rid of the Wisdom. When I explain, it should be easy to convince them." Yanto told them, smiling faintly. 

"Thank you!" Kagome exclaimed.

"Hmm…why do you seem more excited about getting the Shikon shard than Inuyasha?" Yanto asked curiously. "After all, from what you've told me, it doesn't seem that you get any gain from getting the Shikon yourself."

"I don't know." Kagome said after a moment. "I just want to get all the Shikon pieces together I guess."

"Interesting." Yanto said thoughtfully. "I guess even though the Shikon is apart, it is still trying to get together. Well, do as you like for awhile. Rest and in the morning, I am sure that you can have the Shikon and be on your way." Kagome nodded happily and left the room in a strangely cheerful mood. Inuyasha started to follow, when he stopped and looked at Yanto, who was looking at him in a strange, observant way.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" He asked in his annoyingly nice tone. 

"Do you love Kagome?" Inuyasha demanded. He hadn't really meant to ask that, but that tree guy was getting on his nerves and he did want answers. Yanto gave him a strangely calm smile. "Do you?!"

"You certainly get to the point." Yanto said softly. "What you should be concerned is how you would feel if I did answer yes. Would you feel jealous? Threatened? Worried?"

"Wh-what?" Inuyasha didn't expect this sudden change of events. He was the one who was questioning the Maja--the Maja wasn't supposed to be questioning him. 'Would I feel those things?' he couldn't help but ask himself.

Yanto nodded and sudden walked out of the door. "I'll leave you to your thoughts." It took Inuyasha a second to realize Yanto had never answered his question. 'Damn him!!!

******

Hi!!! I finally got the next chapter out!!!!! I also started the next one, so it should also be out soon. I hope you like it!!! Thanks for reading and please, please review!!! You're all so encouraging!!! Thanks!! Oh, I haven't forgotten about Miroku and Sango--they will be coming back in later chapters. Shippou will be in this story, but I have an idea when they will meet up with him. ^_^

Please Review!!!!


	12. Unsettling Discoveries

Disclaimer: As usual, I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters.

Kagome wandered the halls, half wondering why Inuyasha wasn't with her since she was sure that he'd follow her, and half wondering about the Wisdom. Now that she knew that it was almost certain that she'd get the Wisdom, she felt…somehow happier…more complete. It was weird. Even the Wisdom's throbbing power had dulled somewhat. 'Strange.' She thought to herself. She paused for a moment, feeling a different kind of power. A dark and luminous power that seemed to fill her for a moment before suddenly disappearing. 'Even stranger.' She laughed hesitantly to herself.

'What should I do?' She looked around herself at the walls that loomed on either side of her. Even though it was starting to get late, she really didn't feel like going to bed. Kagome decided to wander the halls like Yanto had mentioned she could, peering into different rooms every once in awhile. Most seemed unused and bare, or others were obviously for meetings or eating. It was strange for Yanto to have such a big house when it seemed as though only he and some of his servants lived in it. 'I wonder if he had a large family and they died in the fire?' She asked herself, a little startled by the idea of the ghosts of dead Maja's creeping around the house. 

Kagome suddenly turned around, suddenly having this strange sensation that someone was right behind her. "Yanto? Inuyasha?" She asked hesitantly. There was no one. 'My imagination?' She suddenly wished that Inuyasha were with her. 'Where is he? He could have easily caught up with me by now! I hope he didn't decide to pick a fight with some poor Maja roaming the halls.' She smiled at the thought. 

After Yanto had rudely walked out without answering Inuyasha's question, the hanyou wasn't sure whether he should go find Kagome before she ended up getting into trouble again, or going after that tree and forcing an answer. Either one sounded interesting, but he finally settled on searching for Kagome. 'Who wants to look for trees anyway?' He growled grumpily, wishing that Yanto would stop asking and telling him weird stuff. He soon caught up with her, but stayed cloaked in the shadows as a sudden thought hit him. If he went out and made it known that he was trying to find her, she would think that he WAS trying to find her. He wasn't sure what sense it made, but he figured it would be better to just make sure she stayed okay until that girl decided to look for him.

"Yanto? Inuyasha?" Kagome suddenly said, sounding a bit unsure of herself. 'Damn, she must have sensed me…what kind of youkai am I when I can't even hide from a human, even if its Kagome!' He thought to himself. 'And why the hell did she say Yanto's name before mine!!' 

Kagome continued to walk forward, then turned around and sighed. She suddenly looked determined about something and took a few steps back the way she came from, forcing Inuyasha to duck low to avoid being seen. Luckily, the halls were dark and Kagome soon stopped, turned around yet again and with one exasperated sigh hit the side of one of the stone walls with one of her hands. "I am an idiot." She said after a moment, then laughed out loud to herself, but the laugh sounded forced and strangely sad. "How could I have fallen….in…." She trailed off. 

"What's with you?" Inuyasha said, forgetting momentarily that he had decided to remain hidden. Kagome jumped at his voice and looked at him, a flash of fear and surprise in her eyes.

"N-nothing." She said and turned away from him. "I just-" 'She doesn't seem like herself,' Inuyasha couldn't help but think. "I-I…DON"T EVER SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!" She suddenly screamed at him.

"Huh?" He was completely taken back from her abrupt change in attitude. "I scared you? You're the one walking aimlessly down the halls mumbling to yourself! At least I went and looked for you before you got lost and became tree food!" He snapped back. 

"I'm not the one sneaking in the shadows jumping out on people!" She yelled. "Especially when they are thinking!"

"Well normal people think in their head, not out loud where everyone can here them!"

"I THOUGHT I was alone! You were taking so long I thought you decided not to follow me!" She cried.

"Follow you? Why would I follow around my slave?" He taunted. Kagome tilted her head down so he couldn't read her expression. Her clenched fists and slight trembling though told him he had hit a nerve. 'Maybe I shouldn't have called her my slave…' He thought to himself. "Kagome…"

"In…u…ya…sha…" She said bitterly. "If all I am is your slave…then please say that right now." Her face was still hidden by the shadows and her voice sounded deadly serious. Inuyasha gulped. 

"Well…um…" He stuttered. 'I…don't really think of her as a slave…though I should…but if I say that I don't, will she…leave me?' Those thoughts took him by surprise and he mentally growled at himself in anger. 'Stupid thoughts to have right now.'

"AM I or AM I not a slave to you!" She yelled. "Is that all I am to you? An unruly slave! An annoyance that you have to drag around just because you need those little rocks that only she can see!"

"Of course not!" He snapped back, then paused, realizing what he said. "I mean…" 'If I say that I don't consider her my slave, then I won't have to keep repeating this conversation with her…but if I do…' Inuyasha took in a deep breath and yelled "DO YOU LOVE THAT YANTO GUY??!!" He was surprised how loud he said it and felt embarrassed for even saying it in the first place. It was something he wanted to know though and he didn't see any harm in asking her. He had after all already asked that good for nothing tree and it gave him no answer at all. "Well, do you?"

"Huh?" Kagome looked at him in puzzlement, then burst into fits of laughter. Inuyasha just stared at her, wondering what the hell was wrong with her, as well as feeling offended that she took his serious question in such a manner. "I…just…met him!" She managed to choke out, wiping a tear away from her eye. "And here I thought you were going to say something important!"

"That was important to me!" He cried.

"Was it?" She looked at him, surprised that he was serious. "Why?" She sounded almost…hopeful. Inuyasha felt his face flush from embarrassment.

"No reason." He mumbled. She looked at him for a moment, then narrowed her eyes.

"Is this some way for you to get out of answering my question?" She demanded. "Do you or do you not think of me as a slave!" He gulped, then growled inwardly at himself. 'Why should I care if she knows that I don't think of her as a slave? I mean, so long as she isn't planning on running away with that tree, she'll still be with me to find the shards and that is the ONLY reason why I need her with me.' He carefully didn't think to deeply into the last of his thoughts.

"I guess since you don't think of me as a master, it's stupid for me to think of you as my slave, right?" He grumbled.

"Really?" She said, looking strangely happy. "You aren't lying to me, right?"

"Why would I lie to you?" He yelled. 

"I'm not accusing you of lying!" Kagome stomped her foot. "I was just asking!"

"FINE!"

"FINE!" Kagome yelled back, but then smiled. "Thank you." She then started to walk the way she had come, leaving Inuyasha to follow her. 'Why did why did she just thank me?!'

Konki lively entered the temple, quickly going into one of the doors located near the alter the Wisdom was placed on. The room was sparely furnished, with only a bed located in a corner and several pots containing a variety of flowers placed decoratively around. She sighed as she looked over at the figure lying silently under the covers. If she hadn't of known better, she would have thought the person was dead from her pale complexion and because the normally green hair of the Maja's was changed to one that was sickly brown and yellow.

"Morning Flewna." She said despite herself, even though she knew that no answer would come. It made her feel better to actually speak to her patient. "Yanto is doing good as usual." She smiled as she said Yanto's name. "Today he saved two strangers! It was amazing since I haven't ever seen anything like them before. The girl was lovely with black hair instead of green! And the boy had white hair with two puppy ears! It twas soo cute!" Konki placed a moist towel onto Flewna's head and sat down on the edge of the bed. 

"You're tree was taken care as usually by Yanto. He would be the one here too, but he is talking to other Maja about getting rid of the Wisdom. The girl, Kagome, might have some Miko powers, so then you don't have to use them anymore. Maybe you'll recover…then Yanto will be so…happy." Konki sniffed a bit. "When I very little, before the poison made it to where you couldn't even speak any more, I remember listening to you and Yanto talk. Sometimes he would laugh. Even though I couldn't see then, I could still tell he was happy to be with you. Now he doesn't laugh that way any more. Not even to me. I mean, I am just a little girl I guess and he is like an older brother to me…or that is what he thinks he is." She giggled slightly. "I talk even too much to you!" 

She sat up and stretched her arms high over her head. "Well, at least you aren't doing any worst today." She smiled and pranced out of the room firmly closing the door shut. Even though her spirits seemed to have shift, inwardly she couldn't help thinking why Yanto wouldn't let go. Why he wouldn't see that Flewna wasn't getting better. "Hmm?" She paused by the Wisdom, feeling a strange sense around her. She slid towards the stone, feeling an odd power going into her. The darkness of it scared her. The stone grew brighter and brighter, but she was unable to turn away from it. Her eyes burned, the same way they did when she got back her sight after falling onto that rock. "Why-" She choked out. _Its time you repaid me for healing you._

Kagome reached the room that Yanto had gave them and opened the door, smiling widely. 'Inuyasha doesn't think of me as a slave.' She turned around, seeing Inuyasha still unhappily following her. "It's getting late, so why don't we go get some sleep." She suggested.

"Or we could go get the damn Shikon and get out of here before morning comes." He growled. 

Kagome glared at him. "OR we could wait until tomorrow, after Yanto has discussed with the Maja's tonight and get the Wisdom peacefully. I don't want to add on to why the Maja's don't trust outsiders."

"Feh." Inuyasha looked around the room. "There is only one bed." He pointed out.

"There is a couch in the other room." Kagome narrowed her eyes. "So, unless you are suggesting we sleep together you pervert, you get the couch!" 

Inuyasha blushed slightly and yelled back at her angrily. "I didn't say that! And anyway, I should get the bed and you get that couch."

"I had to sleep on that stupid couch in the youkai city! It's you who gets now!" Kagome snapped.

"But you got to use the bed this afternoon, so it's my turn." Inuyasha glowered. Kagome sighed, but was at the same time happy that they were arguing over smaller matters like this.

"Are you saying that it is my fault that I fainted?" She demanded. Inuyasha paused, as though thinking carefully over what she just said. "Hey! This wasn't a trick question! It's not like a asked myself to drop in the middle of the street!"

"No, moron, I wasn't thinking of that." He cried. "I was just thinking how those Maja's might come in tonight when we should be asleep, so we should probably sleep in the same room." Kagome paused, but before she could say anything, he continued. "You get that bed you want so much. I'll sleep by the door." He sat down. 'Wow, that was different.' Kagome smiled at him, happy that he thought of her enough to want to protect her. 

Sango continued walking, even though the sun was already setting. 'I don't know why, but I really am worried about Inuyasha and Kagome.' She thought to herself. She wanted to get to the Maja territory quickly and join back up with their impromptu group, especially since they had the Shikon shards. A side-glance look told her that Miroku was still following along with his usual calm expression. He must have sensed her anxiety, since he didn't mention how late it was getting. Sango stumbled a bit as the darkness continued to deepen and finally stopped, sighing to herself. "Let's make camp for tonight."

Miroku chuckled and gathered up some firewood before sitting down. Sango knelt down by the wood and quickly started a fire, glad that all of her experience as a youkai hunter paid off. She often had to spend the nights in the forest while tracking. After staring off into the fire for a few minutes, she was startled when she heard the jingling sound of Miroku's staff as he stood back up. Her eyes narrowed as well, realizing the silence of the forest around her. She reached back, one hand brushing her boomerang, ready for anything. 

"I barely can feel its presence." Miroku whispered into Sango's ear. She nearly jumped, not knowing that he had shifted behind her.

"Neither did I." She whispered back. A soft growl from the bushes snapped her attention back to the imposing threat. Whatever the creature was, it crept closer, the fire finally bringing light to the creature. Sango gasped. "Kirara!" She cried out, recognizing this youkai to be the larger form of her pet from her village. "I thought you had been killed!" She ran forward, but slowed down as she realized the normally friendly cat-like creature began to growl even louder, baring sharp looking teeth. "Kirara?" She asked hesitantly.

"I don't think it recognizes you." Miroku cautioned, walking forward until he was even with Sango. 

"But, I know that is--" Sango found herself violently shoved to the ground as Kirara took a flying leap at her. It's claws dug deep into her shoulders and she yelled involuntarily as the pain washed over her. A dull thud sound was heard as Miroku swung his staff at Kirara, hitting the youkai firmly over the head. It was knocked away, momentarily stunned. 'I can't be distracted.' Sango snapped at herself, forcing herself to ignore the pain. 'Something is wrong with Kirara.' 

The youkai shook herself off and growled again. It's teeth appeared to get even more dangerous and Kirara even looked more menacing in size. 'She…is growing!' "It's a Shikon shard!" She yelled to Miroku. 'But where? If Kagome were here, she could see where the shard was…I can't kill Kirara just to get the shard…" 

Kirara leapt again, but this time Sango was prepared and easily ducked. 'At least the Shikon seems to also be impairing Kirara's fighting skills.' She thought to herself. Miroku muttered something under his breath, taking out a small piece of paper with writing on it. Sango couldn't concentrate on what he was doing and instead focused on Kirara, who was circling them intently. "Keep the youkai still for a moment." Miroku told her. Sango didn't hesitate and quickly threw her boomerang towards the youkai, carefully aiming for the tree behind it. The tree shuttered from the impact, falling over on top of the stunned Kirara. "Ha!" Miroku yelled, slamming the paper onto the youkai. The youkai shrieked as electricity flared around it, then remained quiet on the ground, still glaring at Sango and Miroku.

"What was that?" Sango demanded.

"It'll just hold Kirara for the time being. It won't last long, so lets find the shard." Miroku said, surprisingly calm under the situation. Sango nodded, and with his help pushed off the tree from her friend. She then gently began shifting through Kirara's fur, searching for the shard. Miroku took to the other side. After several minutes of work, Sango felt her hands run across a small stone in the middle of Kirara's forehead. She took it out, and watched with satisfaction as the youkai grew back into its small form, mewing slightly as the spell Miroku cast wore off. 

"It must have gotten a piece when the shard broke apart in our village." Sango said softly. When she couldn't find Kirara, she automatically assumed that it had been killed in the fighting. She felt herself sway back and forth. Her mind felt surprisingly clogged, and the pain in her shoulders grew suddenly worst, then faded away as she fell forward into faint. All she could think as this happened was that someone had survived from her village…and how her brother had died…

Kagome woke up to the sounds of someone knocking on the door. She got up, yawning slightly, but still feeling refreshed over the promise of a new day. Inuyasha, who, as he had said he would, was sleeping next to the door, had it already open before she had even sat up. "What do you want?" Inuyasha scowled angrily, but Kagome brightened as she saw that it was Yanto with a tray of food.

"Oh, dear me, I must apologize. I didn't realize you weren't up yet." Yanto said in dismay, looking ashamed of himself.

"You should-" Inuyasha started, but Kagome cut him off.

"It's okay, we were just about to get up." She got out of bed and took the tray from Yanto.

"You look bright and cheery this morning, lady Kagome." He bowed before her. "But I am afraid I bring misfortune with me."

"You got that right." Inuyasha muttered. 

"What do you mean?" Kagome said hurriedly, glaring over at Inuyasha.

"I talked with the other Maja, and they refuse to let the Wisdom be taken by you. I explained to them how much it would benefit us, but they stopped listening after I mentioned you were human." He sighed. "They don't understand that not all human's are evil, nor do they want to." 

"Well, that just means we have to take it." Inuyasha cried. "A couple of damn Majas aren't going to stop me!" Kagome sighed, but a part of her was actually agreeing with Inuyasha's idea. She felt the familiar presence of the Wisdom in the back of her head and wanted now to take it away with her. 'That is stupid of me to think.' Kagome thought to herself angrily. 'It's their Shikon after all…'

"I agree." Yanto said. 

"What!" Both Kagome and Inuyasha exclaimed. "You mean you want us to actually take the Wisdom!" Kagome cried out. "But wouldn't that be stealing!"

"Who cares! We got permission now, so not even you can convince me not to!" Inuyasha laughed.

"But why?" Kagome continued, looking at Yanto.

"Because…I fear that this prejudice will one day be the end of us." Yanto said softly. "Also, the Wisdom has seemed to have kept us encased in time. We now live even longer lives then we should have, and yet we rarely have any offspring. If this continues, one day none of us will be left." He smiled somewhat brighter. "But all that depends on if lady Kagome is a Miko. I am sure she is, but it will be proven when she touches the Wisdom."

"An old hanyou we met said she was, so she is." Inuyasha said firmly. Kagome watched as he suddenly scowled. 

"Aye, I believe so as well." Yanto nodded, then took a step back and looked at them both with a smile on his face. "My, you two appear to have become closer since the last I've seen of you. Is it possible you are now soul bound?" 

"Of course not!" Kagome cried, finding herself blushing deeply.

"No!" Inuyasha said at the same time, also looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Ah well." Yanto said, still smiling. "Shall I escort you to the temple? Of course, we will be taking the indirect route through a highly secretive compartment." He bowed to both of them.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Inuyasha demanded. "With all those idiot flares, no one can understand you."

"He said that we're going through a secret door to get to the temple so we don't have to take to the streets." Kagome explained, looking a bit smug at Inuyasha's angry expression. 

"Keh." He stomped after Yanto with Kagome following behind. He stopped after a few steps. "Humans are so slow!." Kagome quickly caught up with him, smiling despite herself.

********

I am extremely sorry about for the long update! I broke my arm when I fell off a horse while riding (quite honestly it was only my second time to ever be on a horse) and didn't really feel like typing with one hand. After it healed I sorta had a major writers block and avoided the computer for awhile…sniff sniff…I really am not dead!!! I am really sorry!!

Please review!!!


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